Nuveen targets $500 million for 'pure play' talf fund
Nuveen is aiming to raise up to $500 million for a 'pure play' term asset backed loan strategy, Creditflux understands

EnTrust aims to onboard $1 billion for maritime direct lending fund by June
EnTrust Global is targeting $1 billion for a maritime direct lending fund, Blue Ocean Onshore Fund, and anticipates a final close in June

SLC raises $500 million for talf fund
SLC Management, the asset management business of Sun Life Financial, has held a final close on a term asset-backed securities loan facility 2020 strategy at $500 million

Alantra holds €30 million first close on Spanish real estate debt fund
Madrid-based Alantra anticipates a €100 million final close by the end of the year

Magnetar wins $400 million for illiquid credit mandate
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association has allocated $400 million to Illinois-based Magnetar Financial at its 13 May board of investment meeting, according to recently released minutes

Louisiana pension commits $150 million to mezzanine and credit opportunities funds
Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana has awarded $150 million to two credit funds managed by Ares Management and Audax Group at its 7 May board meeting, a spokesperson for the pension has confirmed

Pemberton holds €800 million first close on credit fund after two months fundraising
Pemberton held a €800 million first close on Pemberton Strategic Credit Opportunities II in March, after the fund began fundraising in mid-January. It has a €1.5 billion to €2 billion target size

Iowa pension allocates $50 million to two private credit managers
Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System of Iowa has funded a commitment to credit after cutting infrastructure allocation by 2% 

Two managers beat 70 for £900 million emerging market bond mandate
LGPS Central has selected two external managers for its £900 million Global Active Emerging Market Bond Fund

US manager wins $250 million for talf managed account
Massachusetts Retirement Board has earmarked $250 million to a term asset backed facility managed account, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Sculptor doubles global credit exposure in master fund amid dislocation
Sculptor Capital Management has doubled its global credit exposure in its Master Fund during the covid-19 volatility, according to the firm’s Q1 earnings call

Waiting game pays off for European pension fund
Finnish pension fund Ilmarinen has been investing more in European CLO tranches after valuations dipped to their lowest levels in a decade, thanks to a distressed CLO fund strategy it put in place two years ago.

University of Kentucky awards $40 million to two fixed income managers
University of Kentucky awarded $40 million to two fixed income managers at its 6 April board meeting

KKR takes covid-19 hit on flagship credit funds and lev fin
KKR took a 16% hit to returns on its alternative credit flagship funds amid the first quarter coronavirus downturn and a 13% loss on leveraged credit, taking these into negative territory for the last 12 months. The firm's private equity portfolio also slumped by 12%

Metropolitan launches fund and finds PE sponsors 'more amenable to non-sponsored terms'
Metropolitan Partners has closed an onshore direct lending fund at $240 million. It focuses on non-sponsored companies and has not made an investment in a sponsored deal for three years. But the firm sees an increasing number of sponsored situations arising from the covid-19 disruption

Ares raises $3 billion special situations fund ahead of huge European direct lending launch
Ares Management has witnessed “accelerated fundraising” for its special situations fund, which it has closed at around $3 billion, according to the firm’s earnings calls. The firm also launched its fifth European direct lending fund this week, which Ares expects could be “the largest private comingled fund in its history”

On-site due diligence rules pose fundraising challenge
Stipulations in some fund limited partner bylaws dictating strict due diligence could pose a challenge for asset managers, sources say

Private credit dangers lurk, but fear drives inflows
Fear of missing out is one reason institutional investors are allocating to private credit, but market partici­pants say that investors should err on the side of caution, despite the number of attractive opportunities

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

Cairn wins €115 million for European loan fund
Cairn Capital's open-ended European Loan Fund has reached €380 million assets under management, following €115 million in commitments from two institutional investors

OFS and CIM team up for fund geared towards loans, CLOs and real assets
Credit-related investments in the new interval fund will include floating and fixed rate loans, broadly syndicated senior secured corporate loans, CLO debt and equity tranches and opportunistic credit 

New Hampshire pension invests $50 million in US direct lending
​New Hampshire Retirement System has allocated $50 million to a US direct lending manage with which it has a relationship, having committed $40 million and $50 million to predecessor funds

Florida pension allocates $600 million to three credit managers
Florida State Board of Administration has awarded $600 million to three credit managers in the first quarter, according to a board update seen by Creditflux

Apollo earmarks $20 billion for dislocation fundraising over 12 months
Apollo's returns for corporate credit, structured credit and direct origination in the first quarter were down 8.3%, 14.7% and 4.8%, respectively, but the firm is looking to launch various credit strategies, including capital solutions, dislocation strategies and distressed strategies, that it “expects to accumulate $20 billion over the next year”

Two US managers launch CLO funds geared towards dislocation
Tetragon Credit Partners and Octagon Credit Investors have become the latest managers to launch a CLO fund geared towards taking advantage of coronavirus-related distressed buying opportunities