Tracking down the credit industry’s original winners
All winning managers at the first Creditflux awards survived the crisis, under their own names – like BlackRock – or under new owners. But what happened to the people who collected the trophies?
 

Structured credit specialists seek future-proofing in direct lending
At the turn of the last credit cycle, structured credit recovered spectacularly – but credit managers today seem to be gravitating towards private credit as the area to pick up excess returns in a downturn

Dedication pays off in risk sharing
Fund managers are pitching dedicated CRT funds to institutional investors as market hits €75 billion in 2017 and US banks start to take notice. By Sayed Kadiri

Synthetic CDOs seek to follow CLOs
Growing issuance, interest in longer maturities and the emergence of a secondary market are encouraging dealers to believe that bespokes are on the road to acceptance. By Sayed Kadiri

Natixis AM reports $1 trillion AUM in 2017 results
Paris-headquartered Natixis has reported solid growth, and an end-of-2017 AUM of $1 trillion, for its asset and wealth management unit

Credit Suisse reports annual loss - but insists it's on the mend
Credit Suisse has reported an annual loss for 2017 – posting a full year net loss attribute to shareholders of CHF983 million ($1.05 billion) in its earnings release today

Alcentra creeps closer to $300 million target with third structured credit fund
London-headquartered Alcentra, the alternative fixed income specialist for BNY Mellon Investment Management, appears to have raised more than $214 million for its third Clareant structured credit opportunities fund

Managers predict skill will win out
We asked managers to predict the year ahead across a range of credit strategies. Overall, they had a positive outlook. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

Citi promotes European CLO head and co-head of credit correlation trading
Citi – a market leader in CLO origination and bespokes – has promoted officials responsible for these businesses.

US pension scheme puts $100 million into top-performing CQS fund
A multi-strategy credit fund run by CQS has earned a $100 million commitment from a US pension fund

Nomura renews interest in synthetic CDOs by targeting full-cap deals
After sitting on the sidelines last year, Nomura has returned to the bespokes space

Crestline raises $1.3 billion for its latest credit strategy
Crestline Investors has closed its third credit opportunity fund, according to a press release. The firm states that Opportunity Fund III and related managed accounts secured over $1.34 billion of capital commitments

Leading fund: Lupus Alpha CLO Opportunity Notes I
Single-B CLO trades boost Lupus Alpha asset Management

Saba to close London office, reports Reuters
$1.7 billion hedge fund manager Saba Capital Management is closing down its offices in London

West coast pension fund boosts its allocation to Halcyon’s credit business
A major west coast pension allocator to credit has moved to increase its allocation to Halcyon Capital Management after separate account generated 35% return in 2016

Waterfall looks to add derivatives to its credit managed account
A US pension fund looks set to approve a change to its account with Waterfall, which will see the manager gain the ability to use derivatives as a hedging tool

Move up the stack to avoid implosion
Pundit warns investors to be concerned about return of their principal – but senior loans may be a safe haven as credit yields are squeezed and high yield becomes crowded