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

SEC charges Chatham and co-founder for improper fixed income trading
The SEC has charged Chatham Asset Management and its founder, Anthony Melchiorre, in connection with improper trading of certain fixed income securities from 2016 to 2018

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%

Sona rolls out event-driven and bespoke financing fund to US investors
Sona Asset Management is courting investors in the US for its second capital solutions strategy, having filed an offering of the fund with the Securities & Exchange Commission

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

Credit PM pair seek galaxy of opportunities with long/short fund manager launch
Two experienced portfolio managers have set up a new venture to take advantage of volatile markets

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 

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

Anchorage upsizes 2016 bond-flex CLO by $267 million with reset
Anchorage Capital Group has reset its 2016 vintage bond-flex CLO, Anchorage Credit Funding 4, upsizing the deal by $266.7 million in the process

LP round up: Monroe and Angelo Gordon beat 25 for direct lending mandate, as private credit plans brew
US public pension funds have disclosed $1.2 billion in commitments to credit focused strategies

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

LP round up: managers keep fundraising hopes high as GSO targets $7.5 billion for mezz offering
Institutional investors allocated $1.6 billion into credit this week, according to documents seen by Creditflux

LP round up: horseshoe does the trick for Pimco and other distressed managers
Institutional investors poured $2.7 billion into credit this week through 14 managers, according to board documentation seen by Creditflux

Beneath the triple C: downgrade rate slows as $8 billion of CLO loans tumble
May offered some respite to CLO portfolios as corporate downgrades to triple C were reduced heavily - affecting just $6.67 billion of US CLO paper and €1.09 billion of European CLO portfolios

JC Penney bankruptcy weighs on CLO and CDX HY baskets
CLO managers hold nearly $250 million of the debt of JC Penney, which filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Friday

Louisiana pension commits $150 million to mezzanine and credit opportunities funds
Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana has awarded $150 million to two credit funds managed by Ares Management and Audax Group at its 7 May board meeting, a spokesperson for the pension has confirmed

Frontier bankruptcy dials up pressure for 90 CLOs
Nine CLO managers hold $217 million of Frontier Communications’ debt across 90 CLOs, as the telecommunications company filed for Chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York

Beneath the triple C: $31.6 billion of CLO credits feel downgrade pain
March madness took a toll on CLOs as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s downgraded 4.25% of the portfolios in the US and 1.84% in Europe to triple C or below in just one month (some of these were already triple C rated, only to fall further).

Credit breakdown as one-day volatility outstrips financial crisis
Credit default swap markets have surpassed the record one-day volatility of the global financial crisis, with indices surging to new wide prints as the spiralling impact of the coronavirus outbreak brings government lockdowns on travel while wreaking havoc on oil prices and supply chains