Credit index tranche trading on the rise amid low dispersion
At its halfway point, 2021 is shaping up as another big year for credit index tranche trading, with new investors having entered the market and dealers projecting full-year volume could vie with 2020’s record of recent times.

Credit grind pushes back volatility bets
With recent weeks having all-but crushed volatility from the market, uncertainty about the timing of future risk triggers is leading credit options traders to spurn traditional horizons to focus on longer-dated expiries

Credit slumbers in departure lounge as airline equities take off
Credit and equity markets have been in a balancing act on Tuesday between the positive and negative implications of surging oil prices and Germany opting to relax travel restrictions

French food producer gets cold shoulder following bond issue
Picard, the French frozen foods producer, is one of the biggest movers in the European high yield market on Monday, after investors showed little warmth for its new bond issue in the secondary market

All eyes on NFP as credit seeks exit from 'no man's land'
Credit markets look to be ending wider on the week but, with focus mainly on today's US non-farm payroll numbers, the lack of movement in early trading could give way to a stronger directional play ahead of the long US weekend

Tranche trader leaves Apollo for sell side
BNP Paribas has filled a gap in its structured credit trading group with the hire of an index tranche market maker

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

Triple Bs in the firing line as Fed turns hawkish, says BofA
Triple B and long duration credit are likely to be casualties of tightening central bank policy, Bank of America strategists have warned. But high yield and cyclical investment grade sectors could fare better

Credit indices hit impasse after US high yield returns to pre-covid tights
Credit improvement looks to be taking a breather on Thursday after the compression play in CDS indices took US high yield index CDX HY to its tightest prints since February 2020, before the outbreak of covid-19 began to blow out spreads

Focus shifts to macro views amid blurry relative value picture
Relative value trading has become a difficult place to operate in credit, with previously effective strategies such as compression, pairs and basis hard to discern and opportunities difficult to source, according to portfolio managers. 

Single Bs bomb as beta narrative shifts
Few signalled themes in credit have died away as quickly as that of the outperformance of single B rated credit, which several firms proposed at the start of May but soon found crushed by a cocktail of worries around inflation, central bank policy, supply and high yield fund outflows

Fund performance: CLO funds outperform as two hit over 100% 12-months return
CLO funds swatted away the competition in April on their way to dominating our top 10 credit hedge fund return table after an upbeat month

Credit hedge funds (June 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Altana sits atop tables as credit bounces back
Ucits funds picked up in April as 79% made positive returns

Credit bull run picks up amid commodities surge
European credit spreads have made a sharp turn for the tighter, building on last week's strong run, even after Asian spreads weakened on rising commodity costs

Credit grind makes it five days out of five in bullish week
Credit markets are heading into the weekend on a fifth straight day of improving spreads, amid signs of returning economic confidence and appetite to invest in the asset class

Financials and high yield outperform as rally gathers momentum
Credit spreads are enjoying a second day of improvement to regain some of the ground they lost last week, with Italian banks, commodity traders and higher yielding borrowers among outperformers in a broad rally of both indices and single name borrowers

Sell-off regathers momentum as inflation signals mount
A glum mood has returned to financial markets, beginning with the US session on Tuesday and overspilling into global trading on Wednesday

Financials and high yield corps retrace tighter after inflation shake out
Credit markets firmed up on Tuesday, with European single name CDS finding a chance to recover some ground after Monday's inflation-led weakness. But credit indices underperformed, struggling to return tighter even as stock indices advanced once again and oil prices hit new highs

Credit underperformance resumes as equity turns corner
Credit markets are pushing wider once again on Wednesday, even though stock markets look to regaining some composure following Tuesday's steep sell off

Fund performance: Lightning strikes twice as range of credit funds deliver
What seemed like a chance occurrence in February has struck again in March, as seven categories make our top 10 best performing hedge funds

Credit hedge funds (May 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

Ucits at a glance: Altana moves into pole position
March marked a drop in pace for Ucits funds as only 62% of funds made positive returns, compared to 80% in February

Credit and stocks regain composure on rates as oil hits new heights
Credit and equity markets have improved again on Wednesday morning, after US treasury secretary Janet Yellen's comments about possible rate rises spooked markets on Tuesday afternoon

M&A drives movers in high yield and investment grade
Acquisition talks are having the biggest impact on European credit spreads on Tuesday following the UK bank holiday, with several names moving against an otherwise flat market