Sears CDS external review panel named to solve Determinations Committee impasse
The North America Determinations Committee has selected an external review panel to decide whether two Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp debt obligations can be delivered into an auction to settle the US retailer’s credit default swaps, having failed to achieve a strong enough quorum among its own 15 members

US pension fund seeks HY and IG managers - but not CLOs
Woburn Retirement System, a $153 million US defined benefit plan, has launched requests for proposals seeking investment managers for its US investment grade and high yield investments.  

Crossover converges on CDX HY as Fed, earnings and heavy technicals take hold
Big moves of single name credits continue to hold sway over the iTraxx Europe Crossover credit default swap index, whose underperformance of US counterpart CDX HY has extended during the past week amid a big technical repositioning of flows

Blackstone builds on multi-asset approach with fifth fund
The new vehicle will invest directly into Blackstone deals across its alternatives platform

DWS hires muni bond portfolio manager
DWS, the $803 billion asset management arm of Deutsche Bank, has appointed a managing director and portfolio manager to its US municipal high yield bond team.  

Credit sell-off has room to run and pricing is out of whack, says BNP Paribas
The credit market sell-off could have further to go despite recent widening and is “in the process of a late-stage business cycle unwind”, according to a strategist note seen by Creditflux

Till debt us do part: CLOs have and hold David's Bridal loans as they plummet 10.87%
CLOs hold $26.63 million exposure to David’s Bridal, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday

European CDS index tightens inside US even as bonds languish
Credit derivatives markets have hit a key point of trend reversal this week, with the iTraxx Europe five-year CDS index trading inside its US counterpart CDX IG for the first time since May

Investcorp adds ex-Anteil officials to run manager buy-out business
The new strategy will focus on acquiring up to 25% stakes in mid-sized alternative asset managers

US pension backs Summit credit fund
Ann Arbor City Employees' Retirement System, the $517.5 million US pension fund, has approved a $9 million investment with Summit Partners Credit Fund III, according to board documents seen by Creditflux.  

California pension fund seeks opportunistic credit manager
Merced County Employees’ Retirement Association is on the search for an opportunistic credit manager, according to board minutes seen by Creditflux

Los Angeles pension fund plans $3.7 billion allocation to credit
Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System, the $17 billion pension fund, is allocating to credit in 2019 - it's looking to put $2.44 billion to work in core-fixed income, $800 million into emerging markets debt, $235 million into high yield and a similar amount into a bond/loan hybrid fund

September: Ucits at a glance
Ucits funds continue to post mixed returns

September: fund performance

Machines connect as credit managers’ new best friends
The clamour for credit funds that adhere to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria means the managers behind these funds are handling ever-larger and deeper data sets. This has led a growing number of fund managers to divert resources into incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into their investment processes

Managers digest blockbuster deals
Third quarter loan and bond volumes tend to be small — but this year corporate credit fund managers have swallowed huge deals from AkzoNobel, Altice and Refinitiv

Massachusetts Housing looks to add to high yield exposure
Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency Retirement System, the $147 million pension fund, is seeking fund of fund managers with high yield bond expsoure

Sears CDS auction deliverables rejected due to lack of docs and identifiers, says DC
An auction to settle credit default swaps referencing Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp did not include several obligations on its initial list of deliverables due to lack of documentation or isin/cusip identifiers, the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has said

UBS AM hires PM to infra debt team as it nears final stages of fundraising
UBS Asset Management has recruited portfolio manager Viktor Kozel to its real estate and private markets business. Speficially, he will work within the infrastructure debt team as the firm goes about fundraising for Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform II  

Ares ups its target for US senior direct lending growth to $4.7 billion
Following $5 billion of inflows into global direct lending in the third quarter, Ares has upped the target for its US direct lending strategy 

On cloud nine: GSO prices $616 million Cirrus deal in debut CBO
The world’s largest CLO manager entered the collateralized bond obligation market on Friday

Seven deliverables valid for Sears CDS auction, as seven others split DC panel
There will be seven obligations deliverable into an auction on 14 November to settle credit default swaps referencing Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp, the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has decided. But members of the 15-strong DC were split over whether to include another seven potential deliverables that did not make the cut

BlueMountain hires ex-Deutsche levloan and high yield analyst
The new hire will support portfolio managers responsible for the firm's investments in CLOs

Ullico makes two senior hires for its new fixed income platform
Ullico, an insurance and financial services company, has appointed two senior professionals for its newly-created fixed income investment platform, UIA Investment Management (UIA IM)  

Pimco generates listed opportunistic energy credit fund
Pimco is eyeing the energy sector for a new opportunistic credit fund, according to US regulatory filings.