Points up front: Credit picking follows on from investor picking
Credit picking skills will be important this year amid heightened idiosyncratic risk, so everyone seems to say. But Ares Management, one of the biggest names in direct lending, has demonstrated that asset managers can also be picky with the mandates they take on, when the firm walked away from a private debt mandate with London CIV in January.

Sacramento pension earmarks $150 million for private credit in 2020
The pension fund expects to commit to two direct lending funds and one credit fund it describes as 'opportunistic'

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  

You need a balanced portfolio that’s ready for calculated risk taking — so consider a barbell approach
Investors can’t afford to be too conservative as they prepare for the end of the cycle

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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 

LibreMax wins $200 million for structured credit managed account
The managed account will target 10 to 40 investments across a range of different strategies including CLOs, consumer, residential, commercial and regulatory capital.

UK pension hires BNP Paribas AM for starring role in core-satellite private credit fund
UK pension fund Nest has appointed BNP Paribas Asset Management to run the core of a private credit fund, sources say, in an arrangement which sees Amundi and BlackRock manage certain satellite investments  

Boston pension looks to allocate $60 million to private debt
The Boston Retirement System has launched a request for proposals in which it seeks a manager to oversee a $60 million private debt portfolio

It may seem a bit rich for Welshcake to tell staid CLO investors they need to be more sensible
Bespokes are the next big thing — and you’d be wise to get involved

Narrowly tailored event protocol set to go live in weeks
Investors have until 14 October to sign up to an Isda protocol aimed at stamping out narrowly tailored credit events (NTCEs) from the CDS market.

Roll week leaves CDS in strange places
CDS traders navigate a much-changed landscape in October, after one of the most impactful index rolls in recent times. 

Danish pensions join forces on green strategy
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that Danish pension funds are set to commit DKK350 billion in green investments, during an event prior to UN Climate Summit in New York  

West coast pension eyes European private credit for diversification
The $3.1 billion pension fund is looking to diversify its private credit exposure following an asset class education by investment consultant Meketa

Credit funds at a glance
A round-up of fundraising and people moves in credit

Green bonds and international credit deliver double-digit returns for Swedish pension
Second Swedish National Pension Fund (AP2) reached SEK 367.4 billion in the first half of 2019, with investments in fixed income generating double-digit returns, according to its half year report  

Texas pension to invest up to $225 million in distressed debt
Investment consultant Cliffwater recommends an annual commitment of up to $225 million in distressed debt to Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS), according to documents seen by Creditflux