Ucits at a glance: Ucits recover lost ground
The foot has come off the gas for many funds - 57% of funds did not break the 2% return barrier.

Direct lenders weigh options as next round of funding nears: Creditflux webinar

Churchill's Randy Schwimmer, First Eagle's Chris Flynn and DLA Piper's Jamie Knox talk about how mid-market portfolios have performed during the covid-19 pandemic at Creditflux's US Private Credit Webinar, sponsored by DLA Piper

US private credit webinar set to tackle mid-market
Creditflux is set to go live today at 11am New York time wih its US private credit webinar

Denominator effect expected to drive LP-led private debt secondaries
Institutional investors are expected to engage in rebalancing trades to counter the 'denonimator effect', a move that should lead to an increase in private debt secondary trades

Fund performance: CLO tranches move up
April returns managed a partial bounce back after a tumultuous March. 82% of funds listed in the Creditflux database made positive returns, showing at least small signs of recovery after 90% of all funds listed posted negative returns in March

Ucits at a glance: Ucits begin recovery phase
April returns prove positive for Ucits funds as 85% of those listed in the Creditflux database have moved into the black after a rough March

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”

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”

US pension approves four-year private credit plan as direct lenders report performance
Santa Barbara County Employees has approved a private credit pacing plan from investment consultant RVK to maintain a commitment schedule of $40 million per year to the asset class until 2024 to achieve its target allocation and diversification

Credit Rendezvous: recovery begins, but is it U, V or even W?
Investing in credit is not as easy as ABC. The coronavirus crisis has crushed valuations and although most assets will eventually pull to par, no one is sure how the recovery will pan out

Asset managers pull all liquidity levers to satisfy borrowers
A paramount concern for many investors in direct lending funds is whether asset managers have enough liquidity to meet borrower requests for funding

BDCs face asset coverage pressure as Fitch puts two on negative watch
Fitch Ratings has placed ratings on the debt of two business development companies, BlackRock Capital Investment Corporation (BB+) and New Mountain Finance Corporation (BBB-), on negative watch

CVC listed credit fund 'pre-emptively' sheds covid-19 related positions
CVC Credit has taken a conservative approach to addressing covid-19 volatility in its listed opportunistic credit fund, with the fund divesting several credit positions to manage risk 

Time on side of direct lenders as private loans give relief against volatility
Some credit fund managers have become myopic in an effort to absorb the impact of the market sell-off, rate changes, shortage of liquidity and the overarching consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. Mid-sized companies might be considered more vulnerable in such circumstances, but direct lenders are spared from any mark to market volatility

Direct lenders face ebitda-add back language challenges as borrowers seek flexibility

Fortress digests CraftWorks bankruptcy
CraftWorks Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, with Fortress Investments holding all of the Tennessee restaurant operator's first lien debt - of which over half is in middle market CLOs. The New York-based firm has submitted a “stalking horse” bid to buy CraftWorks' assets

Weak loan collateral will dent private credit returns, says Finnish pension
Valtion Elakerahasto, the state pension fund of Finland, says non-existing or weaker loan collateral has raised concerns about the returns private credit funds will generate in the coming years  

Hadrian Wall tumbles as board calls for wind down of direct lending fund
Hadrian’s Wall Secured Investments' board of directors has decided that a wind down of the fund with cash returned to shareholders would be in the best interest of shareholders, according to a company update

Credit Rendezvous: the outlook in 2020 across a dozen segments of the credit market
Welcome to the Credit Rendezvous, the first instalment of a regular feature published by Creditflux that tracks credit market dynamics in a dozen segments from investment grade, liquid loans, CLOs and CSOs all the way through to distressed debt. We view this as the meeting point for credit specialists across strategies to share their perspectives

Partners nears $100 billion in AUM as CLOs drive private debt growth
Swiss manager Partners Group has reached $94.1 billion in assets under management, with CLOs boosting the firm’s growth, according to its 2019 annual results  

Ucits at a glance: Ucits continue to chart a steady course

Ucits at a glance: ucits continue to chart a steady course

Beware of "mequity" risk in direct lending, writes Barings
Barings co-head of global private finance, Ian Fowler, predicts that the adoption of lending terms associated with broadly syndicated loans into private credit will not prove beneficial in the long term

Permira hit by downgrades in direct lending portfolio but maintains leverage facility ratings
Permira Credit Solutions II's largest asset holding, which represents 17% of the fund, was downgraded from B to D, according to Arc Ratings. Another was downgraded from CCC+ to CCC