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

"I’m passionate about broader representation within investment teams"
CIP's Leila Donnachy takes our credit quiz 

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

Manager shrinks in distressed and explores US direct lending sale: Debtwire
A global asset manager has a fresh set of priorities for its global credit platform with distressed debt and US direct lending moving down the pecking order

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

Creditflux announces finalists for Manager of the Year award
Ahead of the virtual awards ceremony on 15 July Creditflux is thrilled to announce the four finalists for the prestigious Manager of the Year category.

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

Libor fall weighs heavily on loan and CLO portfolios
Libor floors are set to return to prominence after three-month rates tumbled to 0.38% by 18 May, returning the loan market’s base rate to its lowest level since the oil and gas crisis of 2014-16

The opportunities to build par and spread within a CLO haven’t been this plentiful since 2009
Last year’s CLOs could become the benchmark for manager performance

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

Credit drives strong returns for five of the largest asset managers in the business
Carlyle is close to hitting its ambitious fundraising target; direct lending has been kind to Ares; and Och-Ziff has decided to shed its US CLO risk retention stakes after exiting its financing agreements

Neuberger's Dyal acquires minority stake in HPS
Dyal Partners, a division of Neuberger Berman, has acquired a minority equity stake in global credit manager HPS Investment Partners

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

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

Investors prefer direct lending to CLOs
For the first time in the history of Creditflux’s credit allocator survey, investors have voted direct lending the best investment in credit. CLOs came joint second. By Michelle D’souza

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

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