AI blockbuster deals surge as Middle East conflict test dealmaker confidence
Mergermarkets M&A Highlights 1Q26: Global M&A volume jumped 22% to the second highest start ever

First Eagle promotes four across syndicated loans and direct lending
First Eagle Alternative Credit has promoted four officials to senior-level roles across its direct lending and syndicated loans businesses

PSP and Aimco form credit partnership as Aimco poaches its global credit head
Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (Aimco) have struck a remarkable agreement which sees the pair jointly invest in credit and the transfer of a senior figure. 

Manager looks to cut HY exposures in CLO-heavy credit interval fund
A credit fund manager has provided a performance update on is multi-strategy closed-end credit fund through regulatory filings, revealing it has beat its benchmark from 1 April to 30 September despite losing 13.66%

Proposed SEC rules "possibly existential" for open-ended loan funds, says LSTA
The US Securities and Exchange Commission's upcoming new rule focusing on liquidity management in open-ended funds could have “possibly existential” and negative implications for loan mutual funds and exchange traded funds in its current form, according to the LSTA

CIFC boosts legal team with two senior appointments
CIFC Asset Management has announced two senior appointments on its legal and compliance team

Pattern of loan sell-off implies widespread uncertainty
A quirk to the June loan dip was that industries and rating bands sold off in parallel

Manager selection stakes are heightening as CLO pain points intensify: Barclays
CLOs’ slump in market value and piling of distressed assets have made differentiation between managers much more acute on key metrics, regionally and by vintage, according to Barclays credit strategists

Credit Rendezvous: the upside of inflation
It is clear, inflation is not transitory and central banks are acting with several interest rate hikes likely in store for the US this year. That makes loans and CLO debt tranches attractive, but there could be opportunities beyond these floating rate assets

Värde promotes three credit specialists to partner
Värde Partners has promoted Jim Dunbar, Aneek Mamik and Carlos Sanz Esteve to partner

LP round up: CLO fund included in whopping $13 billion of credit allocations in November
Credit took centre stage in November as investors allocated over $13 billion to credit funds in the month, with one pension allocating $50 million for a European CLO risk retention fund 

CLO resets drive equity returns to highest in five years: JP Morgan
Equity investors in US CLOs are earning, on average, the biggest returns of the past five years, finds JP Morgan – with deals reset this year having done most to raise the numbers

Middle east firm hires high profile loan official to build on control CLO equity business
Middle east asset manager Lakemore Partner is doubling down on CLOs with the control CLO equity investor hiring one of the biggest names in the loan and CLO management business

Santander to acquire Amherst Pierpont for $600 million
Banco Santander says it has struck an agreement to acquire fixed income broker dealer Amherst Pierpont Securities

CLO managers face ramping challenges as inflation risk rises
A mix of inflation worries and pandemic uncer-tainty is pushing up loan prices and causing CLO managers to struggle to construct new portfolios

We need to remove CLO misinformation from the market
Vibrant's Kashyap Arora takes our credit quiz

Antares names loan head successor following retirement
Peter Nolan, head of loan syndicate, sales and trading at Antares Capital is set to retire from the $27 billion firm

Credit fundraising: managers build homes for real estate credit funds
The “largest ever real estate credit fund” was one of the fundraising highlights last month as Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies IV fund reached $8 billion on its final close

LP round up: $5 billion flows to credit as private market allocations increase
Global institutional investors allocated nearly $5 billion to credit funds this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Sculptor promotes two after European credit head leaves for Pimco
Sculptor Capital Management has filled the void left by Mathieu Clavel, its former head of European and Asian corporate credit in Europe and Asia, by promoting two senior figures in its credit business

Details emerge on nature of Revlon payment 'error' and lender attitudes
Fresh details have emerged on the nature of the ‘operational error’ Citi says took place when it transferred $900 million to Revlon loan holders

Citi files lawsuit against nine more lenders over 'accidental' $900 million Revlon transfer
Citi has filed a new lawsuit against nine more asset managers regarding its transfer of $900 million to Revlon lenders, which Citi says was made mistakenly. The bank is looking to claim the money back against lenders 

Castlelake targets $750 million for add-on to fifth distressed fund
Castlelake has launched an add=on vehicle to its fifth distressed flagship fund in order to take advantage of opportunities that have resulted due to the covid-19-related market dislocation, according to documents seen by Creditflux

Ostrum's US CLO plan takes a turn after head of structured credit leaves
An experienced CLO PM has left Ostrum after just one year

Beneath the triple C: downgrades hold steady as Travelport loses its luggage
For the second month in a row downgrades to triple C steadied, with just under $9 billion of CLO loans falling to this rating across 34 corporate borrowers