Fund performance: CLOs dominate again as CIFC and Hildene score hat-tricks
CLO funds once again take over the top 10 as seven of those listed with Creditflux invest predominantly in the asset class. So far in 2021, CLO funds have held a majority of the spots in the top 10 on four occasions

Credit hedge funds (September 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Loomis Sayles makes gains in sleepy July
Ucits fund returns

Credit Fundraising: Blue Owl and WhiteHorse gain from improving animal spirits
Fundraising perked up in July as managers raised $14.9 billion for credit funds - the third highest monthly amount this year

"Alongside larger private equity funds, loan volumes will continue to grow"
Spire's Phil Bennett-Britton takes our credit quiz

Credit hedge funds (August 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: mid market fund leaps into top four
The majority of Ucits funds end Q2 on a high note as 76% of those in our database recorded positive performance in June

"China can act how it wants and when it wants in curbing the ambitions of tech firms… but sell offs tend to be opportunities for new buyer
China's latest moves to rein in private enterprise with new rules for education providers have certainly intensified the regulation risk landscape - but Welshcake asks whether this forthrightness could be instructive

Key CLO official earns promotion to managing director at Z Capital
Z Capital Group has promoted two members of its investment team in New York, including a central figure on its CLO management platform

CLOs stand to win from US capital cost refinement, says BofA
A move by US insurance regulators to refine the capital charge framework for structured products will make CLOs more attractive versus corporate bonds, according to Bank of America strategists

It's all relative: IG index drifts wide of 50bp as European CLO triple Bs outperform
US investment grade credit has been an underperformer in the last few weeks with CDX IG trading north of 50 basis points again. But European CLO triple Bs are looking strong while there is a stronger bid for two- to three-year paper in the US

Senior research analyst joins Onex from another US CLO issuer
Onex Credit Partners has hired senior research analyst with 11 years' industry experience 

Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

Capital Four adds three to new US CLO/high yield team
Capital Four has fleshed out its new US credit platform with three hires and another four on the way

2021 CBO refi volume reaches record as CSAM cuts costs on 2019 deal
Credit Suisse Asset Management paired with Citi on Thursday to refinance the mezzanine debt tranches of its 2019 bond-heavy CLO named One Eleven Funding III

Fund performance: Déjà vu as April leaders dominate
CLO funds stayed in the top flight for another month as they took over the top 10 credit hedge fund return table in May, when 87% of all funds listed made positive returns

Credit hedge funds (July 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

"Pain is on the way: spreads are too tight, while compression and carry are done. But what if it's not?"
Welshcake reminds us that mid-cycle portfolio management is a funny old game  

Birch Grove merges with American Securities' credit business
US private equity firm American Securities has merged its opportunistic credit business, Ascribe Capital, with boutique alternative credit hedge fund Birch Grove Capital

Anchorage refis mezz tranches of twin CBOs
Anchorage Capital Group has refinanced the mezzanine debt tranches of two of its CBOs

It's all relative: CDX HY touches record tights but junior US CLO tranches leak wider
Credit spreads are marching tighter, but someone forgot to tell the CLO market. European and US CDS spreads have moved in step with each other for the most part with investment grade and high yield tightening 4-6% in the last week, whereas CLOs have been losing ground

CLO demand to drive loan outperformance over bonds: BNP Paribas
The buying power of CLOs and funds could mean leveraged loans rally further and outpace high yield bonds, says BNP Paribas' credit research team

Axa IM extends palm oil policy to cover ecosystem protection and deforestation
Axa Investment Managers says it is expanding its 2014 policy of excluding investments in companies which do not have sustainable palm oil production certificates by factoring in deforestation and ecosystem protection

Credit fundraising: Audax scores big in lighter month
Fundraising markedly dropped in May, but credit funds still amassed $12.8 billion and 10 credit funds reached final closes across a variety of different strategies

"Technology won’t replace human judgement. In ESG a qualitative review is necessary"
The social aspect of ESG must be given sufficient weight in investment decisions