Western Asset Management puts emphasis on IG credit for listed fund
Western Asset Management Company has renamed its Western Asset Income Fund to Western Asset Investment Grade Income Fund

FS Investment BDC's assets shrink for fifth year running
FS Investment Corporation, an FS Investments business development company (BDC), failed to grow its assets again in 2017 – but insists its recently announced partnership with KKR will allow it to grow stockholder value

Carlyle’s direct lending BDC hits $2 billion, buoyed by inflows to credit fund
Carlyle’s Group’s direct lending business development company, TCG BDC, has announced a net increase in assets of $27 million for the most recent quarter

WisdomTree reaps benefits of "transformative" 2017 with strong earnings release
The ETF specialist revealed an 18.4% year-on-year AUM growth and fixed income inflows in its latest earnings presentation

Och-Ziff’s multi-strategy funds continue to bleed assets
The embattled hedge fund firm’s AUM is down 14% year-on-year, and its multi-strategy assets – which sat at $31.8 million at the end of 2013 – were down to $13.7 billion in December 2017

Natixis AM reports $1 trillion AUM in 2017 results
Paris-headquartered Natixis has reported solid growth, and an end-of-2017 AUM of $1 trillion, for its asset and wealth management unit

AUM drops but Oaktree dubs 2017 a "strong" year
Alternative investment specialist Oaktree Capital Management has reported a slight decrease in assets under management for the year of 2017 – but the Los Angeles-based firm’s chief executive described the year as a “strong” one for the company

US pension cuts BlueBay emerging market fund despite strong 2017 returns
The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois has terminated BlueBay Asset Management as an emerging market debt manager

KKR considers switching from partnership to corporation
Global investment firm KKR is considering a change to its legal structure, with the firm’s senior management and board of directors currently evaluating whether to convert from a partnership to a corporation, or C-corp

Carlyle group's solid Q4 results include $1.7 billion of global credit fundraising
The firm’s fourth quarter global credit fundraising of $1.7 billion included four CLOs, follow-on closes in their new private BDCs, structured credit fund, and managed accounts

Lazard announces 2017 earnings and considers C Corporation structure
Bermuda-headquartered Lazard is considering a ‘C Corporation’ structure, under which the corporation would be taxed separately from its owners

Hildene makes huge 2017 gains after wringing every drop from 1.0 CLOs
For the most part, 1.0 CLOs are on their last legs with very few pre-crisis deals outstanding – but one fund manager has made hugely profitable trades in this area

Vintage deals revived as CLO equity investors buy, refi, reset and repeat
US CLOs are being reworked time and again as investors look to reset deals that have previously been refinanced

ICG increases fundraising goal as direct lending funds near full deployment
London-based Intermediate Capital Group has increased its fundraising target to €6 billion per year on a rolling three-year basis

So much capital, so few deals: specialists fear for direct lending
No covenants, increasing leverage ratios and an outlook for rising rates means that direct lending is not all it's cracked up to be, according to several credit market participants

Hurdle rates topple as direct lenders look to boost fees
Some direct lending managers are lowering their hurdle rates in a bid to increase their fees

Direct lending head says market is overheating
A 2018 outlook report by KKR suggests now’s the time to reduce exposure to direct lending. This comes as another part of KKR goes on a direct lending fundraising spree

Managers predict skill will win out
We asked managers to predict the year ahead across a range of credit strategies. Overall, they had a positive outlook. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

US pensions look beyond equities
US pension funds dramatically lowered their allocations to equity in the decade ending in 2016 as they diversified into illiquid and alternative assets. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

Who predicted $145 billion of issuance?
That went better than expected: US risk retention came in, and $145 billion of global new issuance later, it’s clear that CLOs aren’t disappearing. By Tanvi Gupta and Sam Robinson

MidOcean nets $87.6 million in 12 months for credit opps fund
MidOcean Partners has raised more than $87 million in a year for its first Credit Opportunity IDF fund, regulatory filings indicate

SSGA reports healthy income and AUM boost in Q4 2017
In its earnings release yesterday, Boston-headquartered State Street Global Advisors reported a rise in net income to $687 million for fourth quarter 2017, up from $648 a year earlier – a 19.1% increase

US mid-market earnings grow 12.8% in Q4 2017, up from 4.9% in Q3
Earnings in the US middle market grew by 12.8% in fourth quarter 2017, while overall revenue grew by 11.5% during September and October 2017, according to a Golub report

Morgan Stanley's fixed income sales dramatically dip in Q4 earnings report
Morgan Stanley's sales and trading net revenues took a dip in 2017, with fixed income net revenues in particular down 31% compared to 2016 figures