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

Rising stars vie with swooping hawks as Fed deliberates
Rising star companies moving from high yield to investment grade could be a valuable source of returns for credit investors in coming months, say sources

US spreads narrow gap with Europe as credit hits new record tights
Corporate credit spreads are exploring new tights for the year, with Europe taking its turn to grind inwards once again today after strong sessions in Asia earlier and the US on Tuesday

Crossover names drive rally on strong earnings as European traders return
Several high yield borrowers have made strong improvements on Tuesday as the post-Jackson Hole credit market rally has extended from Friday, with European traders returning after their long weekend

Retailer jumps on PE rumours while markets stay rooted in Jackson Hole
UK supermarket retailer Sainsbury's has been a notable mover in credit this week, as the wider market waits tentatively on Friday's Jackson Hole movement in the US and fund outflows signal nervousness about US Federal Reserve policy and escalating turmoil in Afghanistan

Chinese credit makes gains as Europe and US slump on Fed taper fears
Chinese credit spreads on Thursday depicted an island of optimism as global credit and stocks - including its own - slumped against a mounting confluence of concerns

Goldman Sachs strikes €1.6 billion deal to buy Dutch asset manager NNIP
Goldman Sachs has struck a €1.6 billion deal to buy focused Dutch asset manager NN Investment Partners from insurer NN Group

Travel co among underperformers as credit gives up gains
European credit is softening away from its recent tights in what is shaping up to be a fourth week of range-bound trading, with credit strategists identifying valuations as a key obstacle to improvement at the index level

Lingering covid vies with inflation as top credit threat, finds BofA
Covid-19 lingering is catching up with inflation as credit investors' number one worry, Bank of America's August survey has found. The picture for central bank purchases is bullish, but strategists see industrial and bank senior bonds as shorts for contrarians over the summer

Credit manager beats 25 to win £2.1 billion corporate bond mandate
UK pension pool Brunel Pension Partnership has selected a credit manager to manage its £2.1 billion ($2.9 billion) sterling corporate bond sub-fund

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

"Low inflation was in part responsible for fostering a transfer of returns from creditors to shareholders"
We are conditioned to fear inflation risk. But it brings plenty of positives

US plays catch up with Europe as spreads reconverge
There has been a slight softening of European credit on Tuesday, even as stocks hold onto their record highs and US credit spreads take their chance to close the gap after recent underperformance

Triple Bs gain momentum as IG buyers pick best spots
The absolute tightness of credit spreads has led many to lament their chances of delivering strong returns in 2021, while stressing the need to move down either the quality or duration curve. But even within investment grade, European and US managers are still finding pockets of value

Publishing boost for French firm but China sours wider market
Lagardere is a notable positive outlier in another off day for the credit market, after China turmoil rocked stocks and sent spreads wider

China crackdown and Fed meeting rattle nerves
Credit spreads widened as financial markets began the week on a less certain footing amid panic stock selling in China and a retreat to treasuries ahead of the US Federal Reserve two-day monetary policy meeting

UK pension allocates £2.1 billion to CQS, Neuberger and Oaktree
Three global credit managers have won a total of £2.1 billion in credit mandates from Brunel Pension Partnership, as part of its newly launched Multi Asset Credit Fund.

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

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.  

Green QE is future, says BofA
Last week's European Central Bank strategy review confirmed that climate change policies will dictate the shape of future asset purchases, say Bank of America credit strategists

CSO pipeline strengthens following ESG breakthrough
ESG criteria and longer investment horizons are driving new business in a resurgent bespoke tranche market, say dealers. And while this is unlikely to get 2021 near to a 2019-like haul of deals by year end, hopes are high that volume is firmly back on an upwards traject

Credit spreads gap wider as growth fears rock market
Credit indices have gapped wider and stocks slumped, with government bonds making gains, amid rising concern about future economic growth prospects and the impact of central bank policy

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

Ucits at a glance: Ucits stay positive for second month in a row
Ultra-tight credit spreads are not taking away from Ucits funds – 80% of funds in our database have again recorded positive 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