Traders eye high yield CDS b-wics as index rally opens up skew
The rally back of credit derivative indices over recent sessions has caused the skew with their underlying CDS constituents to open up, leading some dealers to posit single name CDS b-wics could be on the way

Credit traders' kickstand: Basis and CDS curves take focus with long wait ahead for central bank direction
With almost a month to wait before the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve hold their next decisive meetings, a bumpier and seemingly directionless road continues in credit markets as investors show little inclination to do anything more adventurous than just hold on tight

Connecticut $36 billion pension hires first chief risk officer
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has hired its first-ever chief risk officer

Credit traders' kickstand: volatility puts paid to primary, but pays out for relative value buyers
The persistence of credit market choppiness has brought into focus CDS/bond basis plays, options positioning, high yield dispersion and peripheral European weakness - but mainly the volatility rash has put a block on borrowers' primary market aspirations

Flat curves and decompression make waves below the surface
Hopes of using the summer slowdown to get to the beach may be tempered for credit relative value traders, where opportunities abound behind the uninspiring benchmark numbers of the slow market grind.

Net short language could force lenders to sell at a loss
Signs are growing that ‘net short’ provisions in bonds and loans are getting closer to hitting CDS investors, with two instances in recent weeks of the language expanding both in geographical and functional remit.

Back to basis (and skew) as relative value plays catch-up
Basis trades between bonds and CDS failed to gain traction during July as synthetic markets held ground or improved their position versus cash, but this is beginning to change, say market participants.

Ucits at a glance: Amundi and Loomis Sayles funds register big gains in H1

BlueMountain lands senior credit trader in New York
BlueMountain has hired an experienced trader in New York to cover credit and special situations

Credit traders' kickstand: tighter and tighter we go, as outlook gets 'worse and worse'
It’s a strange world, where the president of the European Central Bank can say the economic outlook is “getting worse and worse” as credit markets surge into new territories of tightness

Wells Fargo brings in head of IG credit trading
Wells Fargo has hired a head of investment grade credit trading and a credit sales official to its team in the US

Investor requirements rather than performance is driving ESG push: Creditflux survey
Only 14% of respondents to Creditflux's global credit ESG survey said performance was the main reason they were adopting envoronmental, social and governance-themed strategies

Muzinich targets short-maturity bonds for new global IG credit fund
Muzinich & Co has raised €352 million for an investment grade credit Ucits fund on the back of what it describes as a “response to strong client demand”

CDS has spillover effect on bond liquidity but could cause fire sales, finds BoE researcher
Single name CDS positioning is positive for the bonds of borrowers referenced by the contracts through a ‘liquidity spillover effect’, according to a new paper by a Bank of England research economist. But mark-to-market losses on CDS brought about by higher margining costs could lead to fire sales in the bond market, the paper adds.

Credit traders’ kickstand: curve flatteners and skew trades gain ground
Grinding tighter is the order of the day in credit markets – and indeed looks likely to be the order for much of next week, with an absence of obvious events and catalysts to dictate otherwise. But the strength of the rally in CDS indices has left ‘catch up’ opportunities for relative value traders in curve, basis and even skew based strategies, say market participants

Ontario pension selects new president and CEO

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has appointed Jo Taylor as its new president and chief executive officer, effective 1 January  

Tranche trading is back: relative value plays power growth
Synthetic bespoke and index tranche markets are shifting through the gears and accelerating, say investors, as an increasing prevalence of relative value trading strategies evoke dreams of the products returning to pre-financial crisis glory.

Axa IM finds replacement for top fixed income role
Axa Investment Managers has appointed Christophe Herpet as global head of Axa fixed income and its buy and maintain division

Credit traders' kickstand: European financials outperform as Trump-Xi meeting looms
Credit markets are finely poised going into the weekend, when US president Donald Trump’s crunch G20 meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping likely could set the direction of trade from Monday

Credit traders' kickstand: synthetic credit leads the way as spreads swoop on dovish wings
Dovish comments by the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve, along with thin bond issuance, contributed to a pronounced rally this week in credit market. But a nervy week may lie ahead as suspense grows before G20 summit talks between the US and China next Friday and Saturday

Barclays rehires high yield credit trader from Goldman Sachs
A high yield specialist has become the second credit trader in as many months to rejoin Barclays from Goldman Sachs

Sun Life merges asset management business to create $159 billion division
Sun Life will merge its fixed income businesses - including Prime Advisors, Ryan Labs and Sun Life Institutional Investors - under a new umbrella named SLC Management 

US and European basis trades in play as bonds lag CDS rally
A recent outperformance of CDS indices versus cash bonds has opened up basis trade opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic, say credit strategists

Highbridge refocuses on credit as it liquidates listed multi-strategy fund
Highbridge Capital Management has announced to investors in a multi-strategy fund that it is winding down the vehicle and refocusing its business exclusively towards credit

CDX IG and iTraxx back to level pegging as oil and trade weigh heaviest
Credit markets, along with stocks, enter the week on a flattish tone with focus once again on the next developments between the US and China over trade tariffs. This follows European credit faring better than the US last week as the mood strengthened around Italian and UK risks, say strategists