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

Former GoldenTree high-flyers launch structured credit firm in Los Angeles
A former GoldenTree senior portfolio manager and business development specialist have launched an asset manager that will invest across an array of structured credit, including CLOs, synthetics and private transactions

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

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

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

BlueMountain starts new chapter as co-founder leaves and it winds down hedge fund
There are sweeping changes taking place at BlueMountain Capital Management, with the firm announcing that co-founder Stephen Siderow is leaving and that it is winding down its flagship hedge fund, BlueMountain Credit Alternatives Fund

Synthetic structured credit specialist lands at Brigade
A former Lehman Brothers structured credit specialist has landed at Brigade Capital Management in New York

Bespoke gains pull CLO buyers as market tipped to hit $100bn
Synthetic bespoke issuance could catch up with the more visible CLO market this year, say structured credit specialists

US CLO league tables: new issues drive volumes as Morgan Stanley and Citi occupy top two spots
Two months into 2019 and the US CLO market looks very different to previous years, as the balance of deal origination has changed

Market favours retrospective over forward-looking approach to Ibor benchmark fallbacks, says Isda
New benchmark fallbacks for derivatives contracts that reference interbank offered rates are likely to be based on the “compounded setting in arrears rate” and the “historical mean/median approach to the spread adjustment”, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association has said

Pension fund set to vote on rescinding York credit commitment and cutting Tricadia
The investment committee at San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association has recommended that the pension fund rescind its commitment to a structured credit fund managed by York Capital Management, and terminate its relationship with multi-strategy credit manager Tricadia Capital Management

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 specialist swaps CSOs for CLOs as he returns to Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley has added to its CLO structuring team in New York, bringing an official who has been working on synthetic CDOs

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

Founder looks to take structured credit manager Zais private
Founder Christian Zugel has bid to take Zais Group private, ending its two year stint as a public company

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

Things aren’t always what they seem
Buy CLO triple As but don’t be fooled by diversity scores; take a look at credit index futures if you need liquidity; and watch out for quasi-mid market loans appearing in CLOs

Investing ethically is worth it
Managers could see less volatile returns as a result of their increasing adoption of ESG-friendly portfolios; meanwhile direct lending is spreading across Europe

Heading tighter into uncertainty
Tightening loan spreads are making the job of a CLO manager harder in both the US and Europe. But credit volatility could be on the horizon