Tobacco splutters in broad market sell off
Credit and equity are under pressure on Tuesday as markets pull back from their improved levels amid concerns about the worsening global covid-19 picture. But tobacco companies have their own problems to contend with, with the US considering a proposal to require lower nicotine levels in cigarettes and other countries also looking to curb sales

Lord Abbett prepares special situations interval fund
Lord Abbett is preparing to launch a new special situations fund in the form of an interval fund

Credit Rendezvous: ready and waiting
In Creditflux's quarterly review of credit, portfolio managers tell us that Inflation is likely to nudge higher but they are optimistic because dispersion will pick up and windows of volatility will emerge, rather than elongated phases of stress 

Credit fundraising: Goldman Sachs direct lending fund takes March figures to $23 bn
Credit funds sprung forward in March as $23 billion was raised alongside $2.6 billion worth of allocations to credit managers. 

"IG investors might want to rethink the instrument, but they need not fear rising rates just yet"
In his latest column for Creditflux, Cheyne's Duncan Sankey writes that the sharp rise in 10-year US treasuries could be positive for investment grade investors, but value is in CDS rather than bonds 

Hermes seeks ESG alpha in companies making changes
Buy-side demand to tick boxes for ESG standards has fuelled a boom in green and social impact bonds that is extending into high yield issuance. But as investment opportunities mount, so does soul-searching about the next phase

Technicals support IG while investors hunt for rising stars
Investment grade credit spreads have been stubbornly tight for the past six-months, but investors see positive technical factors that make lower-rated bonds appealing

Dutch telco CDS leaps on private equity rumours
An iTraxx Europe constituent has surged wider in five-year CDS amid reports of a buy-out approach

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris lead the pack again
Ucits funds saw the brighter side of February, as 80% of funds achieved a positive return

Credit hedge funds (April 2021)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Options investors look to medium-term market normalisation
Credit index options trading has been heating up, with investors looking to take views on future market volatility well beyond the customary three-month horizon as Europe and the US grapple to keep a lid on rates.

Single names make big gains as indices dither
Single name CDS in the US and Europe have strongly outperformed from the start of the week, rallying sharply and across most of the credit universe despite direcctionless trading for indices

Los Angeles pension seeks global credit manager for $880 million mandate
Flush with cash? The Los Angeles Water & Power Employees' Retirement Plan has launched a request for proposal for its ‘active extended global credit’ mandate. But only managers with $50 billion under management need apply

No sign of caution as single names pick up rally into long weekend
Credit has extended its impressive rally into the long weekend, with single names playing catch up with indices amid economic recovery signals and on the back of US president Joe Biden unveiling a $2 trillion infrastructure plan

Corp hybrid popularity mounts, but strategist outlooks diverge
Corporate hybrid bonds are becoming a focal point for investors in the second quarter, with one bank's credit strategy team making them a top pick to trade spread compression while another's has expressed caution on their likely performance

Banks take big hit as investment firm's fire sale rages
Banks exposed to embattled investment firm Archegos Capital are blowing out wider in credit markets today as their stock prices slump

TRS goes electronic on Tradeweb with iBoxx trade
Tradeweb Markets has completed what it says is the first ever fully standardised total return swap trade based on IHS Markit’s iBoxx US Dollar Liquid High Grade index

Muzinich adds ex-CIO of boutique amid raft of credit hires
Muzinich has made five hires to its corporate credit business 

Vontobel names fixed income trading head amid four senior hires
Vontobel Asset Management has appointed four senior hires to its team including a newly created role of head of fixed income trading

Roll pushes indices wider but fair value trumps technical positioning
Several CDS indices rolled into new series on Monday, with all of them adding spread over the outgoing versions due to added duration as well as composition changes

Yield rise is buying signal for bonds, says BNP Paribas
Credit spreads are set to hit new cyclical tights in the coming months, with the recent rise in yields having offered an attractive entry point especially for high-rated bonds, say BNP Paribas credit strategists

ESG basket grows and rising stars take focus in CDS index roll changes
Expansion of the ESG investing universe is a prominent feature of this month's roll of iTraxx and CDX indices into new series. Improved credit performance of high yield companies is also a focus, with several moving up into investment grade portfolios

Brazil upheaval sends EM spreads to new wides
Emerging market credit spreads are reaching new wides, with Brazil holding focus in the sell off amid a spike of covid 19 cases and deaths well beyond the country’s previous peak. Elsewhere credit is in a stable range but underperforming a more buoyant turn in other asset classes

Captor builds CDS use-case as it launches smart beta strategy
Stockholm-based Captor Fund Management is readying a fund that will aim to beat cash bond benchmarks by investing in CDS indices, adding to signs of broader appetite for the asset class

Broad sell off resumes as government yields head north
Caution is returning at the end of a stronger week for credit, as government bond yields resume their push higher. Asian and European markets followed the US lead from Wednesday with ubiquitous widening of spreads across indices and single names