Credit traders' kickstand: this is not a drill
Freefall in financial markets has brought one of the credit market’s most volatile sessions on record, as coronavirus cases globally near 100,000 and the WHO has warned governments are not doing nearly enough. iTraxx Crossover one-day volatility is up with the 2008 global financial crisis and 2011 European sovereign crisis

Texas pension pumps $300 million into Pimco fund
Texas Municipal Retirement System has earmarked up to $300 million to a credit fund managed by Pimco, according to board documents seen by Creditflux, building on a relationship established through a predecessor fund

Whiting Petroleum CDS gaps wider as it engages debt advisors
Credit event concerns have taken CDX HY constituent Whiting Petroleum to a recent wide print, after the energy exploration firm’s management held talks with advisors to find ways to remedy its capital structure

Pimco plans to outperform come rain or shine with $4.5bn all-weather fund
Pimco has become the latest manager to fashion a flexible, all weather credit fund that invests across public and private markets, geographies and capital structures. The Newport Beach-based manager is hoping to raise $3 billion for the strategy. With half a turn of leverage, it could have up to $4.5 billion to deploy.

No 2020 recession, cyclical bonds will outperform and CLOs won't crash, says BNP Paribas
There will not be a recession in 2020 and investors should stay long credit with the expectation that high yield cyclical and non-financial borrowers will outperform in a bullish market, BNP Paribas strategists have confidently predicted

Former DFG CLO head resurfaces at Silver Rock
CLO specialist Tim Milton has landed at Silver Rock Financial, it has emerged

Creditors left with sour taste as two food companies file for bankruptcy
Credit investors have been left to digest two US food company bankruptcy filings this week, with dairy producer Dean Foods triggering the first credit event to hit on-the-run series 33 of the CDX HY index, while Houlihan's Restaurants has also sought protection

Highland files for bankruptcy
Highland Capital Management filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court in the District of Delaware (Docket No. 19-12239)

Draghi sends European credit to 2019 tights, as Trump demands Fed response
European investment grade credit – and particularly the financial sector – surged tighter today as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, in the penultimate meeting of his reign, unveiled a ‘whatever it takes’ stimulus

Credit traders' kickstand: nervous equilibrium gives way to weakness as earnings and tariffs weigh
Healthy fund inflows, European and US holidays, and a thinning primary market helped sustain credit spreads this week, but a weaker turn today shows this is a fragile equilibrium and company earnings misses are starting to be punished more severely

New manager Resco lands ex-credit head to found advisory board
Resco Asset Management, a London based asset manager set up last year, has appointed the first of an anticipated three advisory board members

Mariner founding member rejoins firm as CEO
Mariner Investment Group has appointed founding member Curtis Arledge as its chief executive officer and chairman

Palmer Square shows it's not afraid of experimenting as it prices debut CBO
Palmer Square - the market leader for static CLOs - has tried its hand at a new structure by pricing its first CBO

CDS sell-off brings profit-taking opportunity for basis trade players
Profit-taking on basis trades between CDS and cash bonds has begun, with the strong run for credit markets since the start of the year having hit a bump yesterday

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider

Credit pickers will win as high yield spreads widen in 2019, predicts Citi
After a volatile 2018 in the credit derivatives market, there are reasons to be optimistic this year for the best credit pickers, according to Citi’s global credit derivatives outlook

GSO co-founder plans new credit business
GSO Capital Partners co-founder Tripp Smith is launching his own credit management firm, according to a report by Bloomberg

Cash-CDS basis set for comeback after "falling knife" mishap, predicts BNP Paribas
The beginning of 2019 should revive interest among credit investors to trade the basis between cash bonds and credit default swaps, according to BNP Paribas strategists – following what they term “falling knife” dynamics in this year’s fourth quarter

Creditex obtains CFTC swap execution facility exemption
Creditex, the electronic brokerage for corporate bonds and credit default swaps, has been granted an exemption from a requirement to register with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a swap execution facility

Blackstone builds on multi-asset approach with fifth fund
The new vehicle will invest directly into Blackstone deals across its alternatives platform

BlueMountain hires ex-Deutsche levloan and high yield analyst
The new hire will support portfolio managers responsible for the firm's investments in CLOs

Still weighed down by 2015 oil price slump
It’s three years since the depths of the oil crisis but offshore service companies — such as the helicopter businesses that transport workers to oil rigs — are not seeing lift-off in prices or profits

Calpers appoints CIO
California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), the $360 billion pension fund, has appointed Yu Ben Meng as chief investment officer.

CPPIB hires high profile European credit portfolio manager in London
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has hired an experienced PM who previously worked on CLOs and private credit at Apollo

Manager plays its cards right as top-performing hedge fund grows in size
A US credit hedge fund manager has grown the size of its credit vehicle amid a strong first half of the year