Finint holds €51.6 million first close for Italian debt fund
Finint Investments has a €150 million target for PMI Italia II and expects to hold a final close by the end of 2019 

BlueBay targets €5 billion for European direct lending strategy
BlueBay Asset Management is targeting €5 billion for its latest European direct lending strategy, according to documents seen by Creditflux, and has won $125 million in commitments from two US pension funds

Robeco looks to align macro fixed income with credit as it makes senior hire
Robeco has hired Jamie Stuttard as co-head of the global fixed income macro team and fixed income strategist  

Majority of investors seek to increase private credit allocations, BlackRock survey reveals
Over half of investors plan to increase their allocation to private credit in 2019, according to an institutional client rebalancing report published by BlackRock

Strathclyde pension looks to allocate up to £1.1 billion into credit
Glasgow City Council, the administering authority for the Strathclyde Pension Fund, has launched request for proposals (RFP) seeking to appoint investment managers specialising in private corporate debt and real estate debt.

US regulation drives insurance money towards credit ETFs
Institutional investors are increasingly allocating to credit exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but their motivations are changing. These vehicles are famed for their liquidity, but several investors are said to be pouring money into them for the long term amid regulatory changes which have made ETF investments more favourable

San Francisco pension bolsters private credit portfolio with €60 million commitment
San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System has awarded €60 million to a distressed debt fund 

Sweden eases investment law for pension funds
The Swedish parliament has approved investment guidelines giving the country’s four state pension plans greater freedom to invest in illiquid markets    

Lothian pension fund appoints CEO
Lothian Pension Fund has appointed a new chief executive officer, effective from February 2019, to replace Clare Scott, who is leaving at the end of 2018  

Railpen hires former Amundi Pioneer credit head from Tesco pension scheme
RPMI Railpen (Railpen) has appointed an investment director within the private markets team, effective from 26 November  

Danish pension fund's CEO steps down
Christian Hyldahl, the CEO of Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension (ATP), has given his resignation to the pension fund’s chairman of the board Torben Andersen.  

Tikehau fund edges towards €1.6 billion close with €75 million EIB commitment
The European Investment Bank has approved a €75 million commitment to Tikehau Investment Management

Texas pension fund commits €75 million to European distressed debt
A $30.01 billion pension fund has awarded €75 million to a European distressed debt fund managed by AnaCap Financial Partners

Finnish foundation seeks alternatives manager
Turku 2029 foundation, a recently created Finnish foundation based in the city of Turku, has issued a notice seeking a manager for its €8m alternatives investments, in a bid to diversify its portfolio.  

ICG hits €4 billion target for European private debt fund
Intermediate Capital Group has hit its €4 billion fundraising target for its seventh European private debt fund, according to the firm’s semi-annual results

Los Angeles pension backs Lone Star fund
Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System has approved a commitment of up to $40 million to Lone Star Fund XI, according to a monthly report  

Dai-ichi anchors global infrastructure debt fund with $176 million
Asset Management One Alternative Investments has joined together with Dai-ichi Life Insurance to launch a new global infrastructure debt fund

Danish penion fund's credit portfolio returns to growth
ATP, the Danish pension fund, has generated a return of DKK 799m from its credit portfolio for the first three quarters of 2018, marking a recovery compared to the H1 negative return of DKK200m.  

US pension commits $100 million to Apollo's hybrid private credit/private equity fund
Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System has mandated $100 million to a multi-strategy fund managed by New York-based Apollo Global Management

BT pension fund appoints CEO
BT Pension Scheme Management, which has exposure to credit strategies run by Apollo, Ares and Hermes, has now appointed a CEO  

UK pension fund adds portfolio manager for alternative credit
Pension Protection Fund, the south-London based pension fund, has appointed a portfolio manager to its credit team. He joins from consultancy firm Mercer

Pension fund hires portfolio manager to oversee loan and CLO investments
PensionDanmark has hired a senior portfolio manager to oversee its credit investments

Finnish pension fund seeks portfolio administrator for illiquid investments
Finland's state pension fund is searching for a portfolio administrator to oversee its illiquid investments, which include private credit

Alaska pension fund puts $123 million to work following $1 billion credit platform launch
Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC) has made a $123.3 million commitment to a European direct lending fund

Full steam ahead: Italian railway workers' pension fund seeks private debt exposure
Eurofer, the €1 billion Italian pension fund, for railway workers, is seeking debt managers, with a focus on infrastructure, real estate or unlisted real estate companies.