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

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

Novicap names new CEO in leadership shuffle as it sets targets for credit division
Novicap, a fintech company offering working capital optimisation solutions to SMEs and mid-market corporates, has shuffled its leadership structure and set a €1 billion cumulative volume target for its credit division by the end of this year

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

Robeco adds Asia fixed income head and builds team ahead of strategy launch
Robeco has made a senior hire with a focus on credit and sustainability as it moves staff from Rotterdam in preparation to launch a new fixed income strategy

AlbaCore adds distressed hire among raft of new arrivals
AlbaCore Capital Group has added four hires to its investment team in recent weeks, taking its total headcount to 46

Former Brevan Howard PM rejoins and brings macro funds with him
The chief investment officer of Cove Capital is returning to Brevan Howard four years after leaving the 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

Past returns: Trying a different route to Balliol
Five years ago in Creditflux we reported on Numen Capital absorbing credit hedge fund manager Balliol Capital

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

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

Silver lining: credit investors provided with lower entry points than Q4 2018
Oil shocks and the coronavirus outbreak, along with aftermath effects such as US Federal Reserve interventions and lockdowns, is providing credit investors with lower entry points than the Q4 2018 sell-off, say sources. Furthermore, an expected U-shaped rather than V-shaped recovery could provide a greater money multiple for opportunistic investments - if they can access them 

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

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

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

Renault hits bump in flat markets
The future of Nissan’s relationship with Renault has been in question since last year. But the likelihood of the companies parting ways has increased since Nissan’s former chairman Carlos Ghosn, who faced charges of financial crimes, fled from Japan to Lebanon in December

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

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

Credit CIO Finch leaves GLG
Simon Finch has parted ways with Man GLG, according to market sources, ending an 18-month stay at the firm where he served as chief investment officer for credit

Date set for long-delayed Steinhoff auction, with two deliverables
An auction to settle CDS referencing Steinhoff Europe will take place on Wednesday next week – six months after the Determinations Committee ruled that the retailer had triggered a failure-to-pay credit event

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

Steinhoff credit event auction finally in sight after restructuring concludes
A long-awaited auction to settle CDS referencing retailer Steinhoff Europe has moved a step closer, with the EMEA Determinations Committee noting the restructuring effective date has happened and the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) has been fully implemented

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

Mizuho appoints US and European credit trading heads in leadership shake-up
The hires include a newly created CLO role, head of credit trading, and head of special situations and illiquid trading