London pension considers direct lending allocation
The City of Westminster pension fund is considering a 5% allocation to a new mandate which includes direct lending,

Schroders scheme allocates £800 million to credit and liability investments
The Schroders Retirement Benefits Scheme has invested £800 million of its defined benefit assets to the organisation’s cash flow driven investing building blocks  

Private credit funds could find better buying opportunities this year, says NEPC
Institutional investors looking to allocate to private credit in 2020 should focus on distressed debt, opportunistic credit and niche lending, according to investment consultant NEPC, with 2019 vintage funds potentially seeing “better buying opportunities” despite valuations being at cyclical highs

Investors preferred real asset debt to corporate private debt in 2019, finds Bfinance
Bfinance stated that, in dollar terms, real asset debt searches conducted by investors outweighed corporate private debt searches in 2019

DC pension set to invest in private debt assets
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), a UK based pension scheme, is set to enable the members of its defined contribution (DC) section to get exposure to private markets assets, including private debt, from February

UK charities join forces on hunt for ESG managers
Three UK based charities are joining forces in the hunt for a manager to oversee a £32 million ($41.6 million) portfolio with a strong focus on environment, social and governance (ESG) criteria as well as impact investing  

Ares makes rare move by pulling out of private debt mandate
Greater London’s local government pension pool has lost one of its credit managers after Ares Management withdrew from its role as fund manager on an illiquid loan and private debt mandate  

UK pension eyes managers as part of £1 billion-plus credit expansion
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is seeking investment managers for single credit asset class mandates,

UK pension fund looks for emerging market manager to oversee £900 million
Pension partnership LGPS Central has launched a request for proposals for emerging market bond managers to oversee £900 million ($1,186 million)

CDP commits to Italian private debt
Italian state-owned investor Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) has committed €40 million to a private debt fund managed by Anthilia Capital Partners

Managers acquiesce on fees as small UK pensions seek private credit nest egg
Private credit fund managers are rejigging their fee structures in order to attract small UK pension schemes.

Devon pension backs Brunel private debt portfolio
Devon pension fund’s committee has approved a £100 million ($131 million) commitment to Brunel private debt portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Pitching your structured credit fund: the three golden rules
Structured credit fund managers were given a lesson in how to market their strategies by a group of asset allocators at the Creditflux CLO Summit in New York.

Texas pension awards €100 million to European direct lending
Texas County and District Retirement System has allocated €100 million to a European direct lending fund managed by Metric Capital Partners

Pennsylvania pension creates private credit bucket
Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System has approved a new 4% allocation to the private credit asset class

Danish pension backs green bonds
Sampension is set to boost its green portfolio, by allocating DKK300 million to German and Irish green bonds

US pension fund hires fixed income manager
Howard County Retirement Plans has appointed Payden & Rygel to oversee a $40 million absolute-return fixed income portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

UK pension partnership launches maiden private credit offering at £581 million
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership (BCPP) is set to commit £581 million in private credit, as part of its maiden offering in this asset class  

West coast pension looks to step up direct lending allocations
The City of Fresno Retirement System will commit $140-160 million to private credit for the next two years, according to board documentation seen by Creditflux. This comes amid a pause in direct lending commitments for the pension fund, which has not committed any capital to this market in 2019

Italian journalists set for greater exposure to infrastructure debt
The pension fund for Italian journalists has launched a request for proposals in which it seeks exposure to infrastructure debt, along with infrastructure equity

Minnesota pension to invest $300 million in distressed and private credit funds
Minnesota State Board of Investments is set to invest $100 million in a mezzanine debt fund and $200 million in a distressed debt fund

Italian pension eyes private market investments with debt and equity mandate
Fondoposte has launched a request for proposals in which it outlines plans to invest in private debt and private equity  

Arizona pension to deploy up to $700 million a year in private credit
Arizona Public Safety Employee System is looking to deploy $600-700 million in private credit strategies per year in order to meet its target allocation, according to board documents seen by Creditflux.

UK pension Nest selects manager for £500 million global bond allocation
Nest, the largest pension scheme in the UK with over 8 million members, has selected a manager to oversee a £500 million separately managed account focused on global corporate bonds

Canadian pension awards €300 million to middle market real estate debt
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has awarded €300 million to a separately managed account focused on real estate across Spain and Portugal. The pension fund did not name who this partnership was with