ESG phenomenon leads to talk of incentive fee models
For asset managers that are diving into environmental social and governance (ESG) investment standards, an ugly truth is the lack of any standardised performance fees. But that could change as more investors begin picking and choosing allocations based on ESG rubrics.

US pension allocates to Golub in bid to boost 'non-core fixed income' bucket
The State of New Mexico Investment Council has awarded $100 million to a senior debt fund managed by Golub Capital Partners, as part of a plan to bolster its non-core fixed income bucket

THL updates credit investment framework to include ESG
THL Credit Advisors has announced that it has developed an investment framework for assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in analysing credit quality and risk factors

EQT looks to raise €500 million via IPO
The initial public offering is anticipated to increase EQT's flexbility to “pursue growth opportunities” and expand its private market investing business

Last of GSO's co-founders departs
It's the end of an era as GSO Capital Partners co-founder Bennett Goodman (the 'G' in GSO) will step down from the firm at the end of the year 

Connecticut $36 billion pension hires first chief risk officer
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has hired its first-ever chief risk officer

Credit plays a big part as KKR increases AUM by $6.5 billion
KKR grew its assets under management by 8% over the second quarter, according to the firm’s earnings call, which took place on Thursday.

Calpers misses returns target despite fixed income outperformance
California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) has missed its annual investment target despite strong performance from its fixed income portfolio, which was its top performer  

Ontario pension selects new president and CEO

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has appointed Jo Taylor as its new president and chief executive officer, effective 1 January  

Sun Life merges asset management business to create $159 billion division
Sun Life will merge its fixed income businesses - including Prime Advisors, Ryan Labs and Sun Life Institutional Investors - under a new umbrella named SLC Management 

The Last Tranche: awards season is upon us [podcast]
A look at 2018 award offerings and finalist, plus some insight on direct lending and b-wics

Jefferies subsidiary and Stonyrock plan mid-market alternative manager stake acquisitions
The new joint venture will invest in private equity, credit, hedge funds, real estate, venture, and infrastructure firms

Blackstone follows in footsteps of KKR and Ares by converting to corporation
The conversion is anticipated to be effective from 1 July

Shenkman targets $500 million for opportunistic credit fund
Shenkman’s opportunistic fund will aim to take advantage of the volatility in the market

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

Credit manager Post unveils new leadership structure
The reshuffle follows the departure of Post Advisory's chief investment officer   

Regulation stifles SRTs, but banks and investors revel in quarter-four outperformance
Over the course of 2018 there was roughly €6.5 billion of issuance in the market for significant risk transfer (SRT) deals, sources say, with the last three months understood to be the busiest quarter on record

Ares grows credit 34% with direct lending boost, but high yield takes rough ride in Q4
Ares Management Corporation reported strong returns for its European direct lending strategies in the fourth quarter of 2018. But the firm's overall revenues slumped and its US loan funds and high yield strategies were hit by the volatile credit market 

Silence is not golden: loan investors fret over terms in Apollo-sponsored deals
Leveraged loan investors have expressed concern over terms in some Apollo-sponsored deals, which allow the borrower to incur additional first lien debt that not only matures earlier than the existing debt, but also does not trigger “most favoured nations” (MFN) protection for the outstanding debt

Carlyle performance dips in Q4, but credit teams ride global volatility
Credit fund performance dipped for the Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter, as market volatility and fund outflows put a dent in the industry’s much stronger performance of the previous three quarters

Performing credit tops distressed credit for Blackstone, but credit AUM declines
The firm is looking to boost its direct lending business to gain $10 billion of available capital over the next couple of years

Apollo's credit funds report gains in 2018 despite Q4 slump
Apollo saw $21.6 billion inflows throughout the quarter leading to a record total assets under management of $280.3 billion. The firm, however, reported a net loss throughout the quarter 

Carlyle Aviation appoints new managing director
The $5.6 billion recently acquired unit of asset manager Carlyle Group has appointed a new managing director and co-head of aviation  

Rockefeller partners with iCapital to expand into alternatives
Rockefeller Capital Management has partnered with financial technology platform iCapital Network, to increase its exposure to alternative investments

US regulation drives insurance money towards credit ETFs
Institutional investors are increasingly allocating to credit exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but their motivations are changing. These vehicles are famed for their liquidity, but several investors are said to be pouring money into them for the long term amid regulatory changes which have made ETF investments more favourable