Credit event protocol goes into force with 60 extra sign-ups
The International Swaps & Derivatives Association is going live today with a protocol aimed at stamping out narrowly tailored credit events from the CDS market, having signed up 1,358 entities

Pimco launches listed multi-sector global credit fund
Known as Pimco Tactical Income Fund, the fund will invest in a range of global credit strategies and will list on the New York Stock Exchange

Tabula adds dollar-hedged class to credit volatility ETF
Tabula Investment Management, a fixed income exchange traded fund (ETF) provider, has added a US dollar-hedged class to a product that captures the difference between realised and implied volatility in the CDS index options market

Four days left to join narrowly tailored credit event protocol
Those market participants yet to sign up to the International Swaps & Derivatives Association’s protocol on narrowly tailored credit events have until Friday to do so

Credit traders’ kickstand: primary market flood gives basis for relative value
A deluge of investment grade bond supply in the first two weeks of the year has weighed on the spread basis between the cash market and CDS, leaving opportunities for traders who believe this dislocation should correct over the coming weeks

Credit traders' kickstand: convergence trades rewarded as financials outperform
Compression is the watchword in credit at the start of the year, with the market’s navigation of post-crisis tight prints bringing an outperformance of financial names over corporate borrowers and US over European indices

This is not just wider: M&S stands apart as CDS picks new tights
As credit spreads head back into post-crisis record tight territory amid a softening of tone between the US and Iran, retailer Marks & Spencer is bucking the rally having issued a profit warning today

Oil supply concerns grease CDS relative value trade
With credit spreads having begun 2020 circling post-crisis tight prints, there is not much room across the market for improvement and plenty of susceptibility to jitters. But at least one CDS index shows scope to narrow further and could form part of a relative value trade

We need to talk about high triple C/bond-heavy CLOs
It’s tranched, has exposure to corporate credit and looks and behaves a lot like a CLO – only it’s slightly different. There is so much variety in the CLO market that the industry is faced with a dicey problem: how do we differentiate between the different flavours of CLOs?

Rude awakening for credit as US airstrike sends global shockwaves
It only took a day for the positive mood greeting financial markets in 2020 to turn nervous, with credit and equities faltering in early trading today after the US killed a top Iranian military official

Credit traders enter 2020 a world away from 2019's opening blues
CDS markets are showing what a difference a year makes, with indices beginning 2020 at post-crisis record or near record tights. And concerns such as Brexit or US-China (and lately UK-China) tensions are doing little to dampen the mood in today's buoyant trading session

Don’t get too comfortable. The truth is there are hundreds of things that could be catalysts for a sell-off
Just because there’s no obvious sign of a sell-off, doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Often, market moves defy logic

‘Buying the dip’ is going to be a poor investment strategy when the next downturn comes
The next credit downturn will be shallower but more prolonged than the last, so what works will be different, too

Attack is the best form of defence
Yes, idiosyncratic risks are creeping into corporate credit. But speakers at Creditflux’s CLO Summit were convinced that the most creative firms will be able to thrive without taking on additional risk

Points up front: There are lies, damn lies and awards pitches
We’re hearing empty boasts, trash talking of their rivals and no shortage of promises that will absolutely be delivered.

Deep dive trade is on, but single name risks still abound
High yield CDS is reversing its previous underperformance versus investment grade, reflecting an investor shift down the quality spectrum in cash bonds.

Fund performance: Long-short funds rule in October as CLO funds struggle
A round-up of fund performance

CLOs at a glance: innovations arrive as year draws to close

Beware of "mequity" risk in direct lending, writes Barings
Barings co-head of global private finance, Ian Fowler, predicts that the adoption of lending terms associated with broadly syndicated loans into private credit will not prove beneficial in the long term

US pension fund hires fixed income manager
Howard County Retirement Plans has appointed Payden & Rygel to oversee a $40 million absolute-return fixed income portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

S&P acquires ESG rating business from RobecoSam
S&P Global has acquired an ESG ratings business from RobecoSam, according to an announcement. The acquisition includes that of SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), an evaluation tool.

Investors increasingly see ESG as fiduciary duty, State Street survey reveals
North American investors are most likely to view ESG as a fiduciary duty, while European investors are driven by regulation, performance and reputational risk, according to results from a survey conducted by State Street Global Advisors

Deadline just hours away for CDS users to sign Isda protocol
Midday New York time is the cut-off for market participants to sign up to the International Swaps & Derivatives Association’s protocol aimed at stamping out narrowly tailored credit events from CDS

Rising idiosyncratic risk leads to calls for high yield index tranche fix from traders
As sources of funding dry up for the weakest borrowers in the credit market, some correlation traders are calling for an overhaul of CDX NA HY index tranches to make trades on wide-end dispersion more effective.

Past returns: Bond king’s exit ends CLO refis
Five years ago in Creditflux, we reported on a market absorbing the consequences of ‘bond king’ Bill Gross leaving Pimco, the firm he co-founded.