CDS indices edge wider and positive skew opens as Pershing Square puts on new hedge
Credit indices have widened a touch this week but they’re back in focus with reports that Pershing Square Capital Management, led by Bill Ackman, has this week used CDS indices to hedge parts of its equity portfolio

Compression and curves in play amid second day of vaccine rally
Credit spreads are converging as they edge tighter again today, following their forceful improvement to pre-covid levels yesterday due to a successful covid-19 vaccine test

Primary pumped as Trump gazumped and vaccine hopes jump
A 'yuge' rally is underway in credit markets today, with optimism over Joe Biden's apparent victory in the US presidential election turning to elation following a big covid-19 vaccine breakthrough

Robots rise for credit ratings
A fintech platform is launching this month that aims to use artificial intelligence to democratise credit ratings.

Fund performance: Structured finance finds its footing with credit rally
For the first time this year we have seen a structured finance fund take the top spot, as Serone Key Opportunities Fund leads a multitude of other funds in this category in the top 10 of our monthly fund rankings

Ucits at a glance: European funds and CLOs head rankings
Ucits fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (November 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Credit hedge funds (November 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Equity tranche shorts gather for fallen angels
Investor views are starting to form around on-the-run iTraxx and CDX index tranches, following their rolls into new versions at the end of September and start of October

High yield outperformance to bring compression trade back into play: Citi
High yield underperformance versus investment grade is expected to reverse following the US presidential election, according to a strategy note from Citi. The bank’s strategists have been advocating compression trades since July and feel that there is more room for this to run citing election trends, exposure to coronavirus credits, expected default rates and credit ratings

Credit fundraising: Dubai manager gets in on the act as direct lending takes off
Shuaa launches credit fund in the Gulf as Ares, Contingency, HPS and Perceptive are among those to close billion-plus funds

Credit sell off picks up pace as lockdown shadows deepen
This week's blow out of credit spreads sharply accelerated today, with mounting coronavirus lockdown fears fuelling a surge wider across the board in tandem with plummeting stocks

IG names hit hardest as cocktail of woes routs market
Investor nervousness is evident at the start of the week with a big widening of spreads on Monday as lack of accord on a new US stimulus package added to concern about rising coronavirus case numbers and jitters in the oil market

Rally puts credit back on even footing but single name volatility persists
A sizeable rally today is putting credit indices back on a flattish footing with where they began the week, adding to the sense the market is finely poised with only six trading days to go before the US presidential election

Credit Rendezvous: sometimes you have to dive deep to find value
Some parts of the credit market are fraught with danger, but that does not mean portfolio managers are avoiding them entirely, according to the Credit Rendezvous, Creditflux's 10-page quarterly report eaturing comments from 15 credit experts

Lazard AM adds boutique's four-person long/short credit team
Lazard Asset Management has expanded its $4.5 billion ‘alternative investment’ platform by bringing on board the credit team from boutique Coherence Capital Partners

IG tranches look 'boring' after distressed names ejected at roll
September’s index rolls brought tranche traders some of the starkest portfolio changes in recent years, with fallen angels and defaults shifting correlation dynamics. This creates relative value openings, but investors will take longer to move into new series as they require extra analysis, say dealers.

The tranche market shines, whatever your view on credit
Index tranche volumes have reached record levels this year and CSOs have withstood the covid crisis. Panellists at the Credit Dimensions webinar outlined a range of trades in a thriving market

Credit spreads wind back to February to bring shorts into focus
The credit rally since April has opened up an opportunity to go short credit, say fund managers, with spreads back to where they were in late February

Credit hedge funds (October 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Ucits at a glance: Advent and Algebris edge towards double digit returns
Two managers stand out in the Ucits rankings as they close in on 10% YTD figures

Credit funds at a glance (October 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Fund performance: A third of funds reach positive territory in 2020
August has been another successful month for the CLO category as seven of the top 10 funds invest primarily in CLOs

Credit fundraising: managers build homes for real estate credit funds
The “largest ever real estate credit fund” was one of the fundraising highlights last month as Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies IV fund reached $8 billion on its final close

Tranche market maker jumps to buy-side
BNP Paribas' New York based market maker for credt index tranches has left the bank after seven years