AUM drops but Oaktree dubs 2017 a "strong" year
Alternative investment specialist Oaktree Capital Management has reported a slight decrease in assets under management for the year of 2017 – but the Los Angeles-based firm’s chief executive described the year as a “strong” one for the company

Energy PE firm Orion closes second credit opps fund at $816 million
Orion Energy Partners, a private equity firm providing capital solutions to mid-market energy infrastructure businesses, has closed its second credit opportunity fund at $816 million

Altegris and Artivest merge to form alternatives investment platform
Alternative investment research and management firm Altegris, based in La Jolla in California, has merged with New York-based alternative investment technology firm Artivest

Cleveland multi-boutique announces pricing of its IPO
Victory Capital, which provides offerings including separately managed accounts, collective trusts, mutual funds, ETFs and UMA/SMA vehicles, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 11.7 million shares of its Class A common stock at a public offering price of $13.00 per share

20-year Credit Suisse veteran joins BlackRock in New York
BlackRock has hired Brent Patry, the former vice chairman of Credit Suisse's acquisition and leveraged finance division

KKR considers switching from partnership to corporation
Global investment firm KKR is considering a change to its legal structure, with the firm’s senior management and board of directors currently evaluating whether to convert from a partnership to a corporation, or C-corp

GSAM poaches AB’s Ashish Shah as global corporate credit head
Goldman Sachs Asset Management's fixed income team has hired Ashish Shah as partner and head of global corporate credit, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

Carlyle group's solid Q4 results include $1.7 billion of global credit fundraising
The firm’s fourth quarter global credit fundraising of $1.7 billion included four CLOs, follow-on closes in their new private BDCs, structured credit fund, and managed accounts

New York-based manager launches high yield credit fund
An affiliate of fixed income subadvisor Cohanzick launched a new high yield credit fund on 1 February, according to a market source

New York-based manager rebrands long-short credit fund
The $107.5 million vehicle, which was previously known as Collins Long/Short Credit Fund, has rebranded as CrossingBridge Long/Short Credit Fund

Lazard announces 2017 earnings and considers C Corporation structure
Bermuda-headquartered Lazard is considering a ‘C Corporation’ structure, under which the corporation would be taxed separately from its owners

Texas pension fund re-ups commitment to opportunistic credit fund
Texas County & District Retirement System has further allocated $50 million to Beach Point Capital Management, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Blackstone's credit AUM up 48% YoY as firm announces "exceptional" results
The firm's credit business enjoyed composite gross returns of 11.2% for performing credit and 7.7% for distressed strategies in 2017

GreensLedge and Natixis unite again to arrange debut CBO for NY manager
A New York-based manager has entered the CBO market for the first time, pricing a $408.1 million transaction via GreensLedge and Natixis

CIFC moves into US high yield with unique long/short credit strategy
US high yield credit is hardly top of the agenda for fund managers at the moment, but CIFC Asset Management is taking a two-pronged approach to building out a new business line in this area

Demand for IG outweighs HY as US credit manager launches two funds
A west coast asset manager has launched a high yield strategy and an investment grade fund. The IG option has been more popular thus far

Managers predict skill will win out
We asked managers to predict the year ahead across a range of credit strategies. Overall, they had a positive outlook. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

US pensions look beyond equities
US pension funds dramatically lowered their allocations to equity in the decade ending in 2016 as they diversified into illiquid and alternative assets. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

US power generators: Falling prices spark bankruptcies
As renewables and gas undercut traditional power generators, bond holders are preparing for price shocks. By Euan Hagger

Wells Fargo AM absorbs fixed income affiliate
First International Advisors, subadvisor to the Wells Fargo Multi-Sector Income Fund, has changed its legal name to Wells Fargo Asset Management (International), effective 31 January.

Morgan Stanley Wealth to trim hundreds of mutual funds from its platform
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is preparing to pull around 600 mutual funds funds from its platform, Creditflux understands

Bill Barr steps down from Och-Ziff board as firm's new CEO is named
Och-Ziff has named a new chief executive officer to succeed Dan Och, with the firm announcing today that former Credit Suisse executive Robert Shafir will step into the position

New York fixed income specialist hires two marketing officials
Fixed income specialist Ryan Labs Asset Management, a member of the Sun Life Investment Management group, has made two senior hires to its marketing and client strategy team

Former Hartford ETF chief joins Chicago manager as head of funds
Northern Trust Asset Management has named Darek Wojnar, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) professional from Hartford Funds, as its head of funds and managed accounts