Sears CDS battle heats up as DC challenged to change auction rules
A high profile battle over Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps has taken a new turn, with one market participant challenging the Americas Determinations Committee to change its rules to avert price manipulation by another market participant in the bankrupt retailer's credit event auction

GSO co-founder plans new credit business
GSO Capital Partners co-founder Tripp Smith is launching his own credit management firm, according to a report by Bloomberg

Cairn sheds light on single-investment SRT fund
Fresh details have emerged on Cairn Capital’s new significant risk transfer (SRT) funds with the manager informing Creditflux that Pathfinder Fund III was structured such with US requirements in mind

Cairn adds two SRT funds to its roster
Cairn Capital has raised $150 million across two significant risk transfer (SRT) funds - with differing mandates - according to an announcement by the firm

Sears CDS external review panel named to solve Determinations Committee impasse
The North America Determinations Committee has selected an external review panel to decide whether two Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp debt obligations can be delivered into an auction to settle the US retailer’s credit default swaps, having failed to achieve a strong enough quorum among its own 15 members

Neiman Marcus loan slumps amid debt restructuring talks
The luxury fashion retailer’s $2.95 billion cov-lite term loan B, due October 2020, traded down 1.65%, according to IHS Markit 

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

Credit sell-off has room to run and pricing is out of whack, says BNP Paribas
The credit market sell-off could have further to go despite recent widening and is “in the process of a late-stage business cycle unwind”, according to a strategist note seen by Creditflux

Investcorp adds ex-Anteil officials to run manager buy-out business
The new strategy will focus on acquiring up to 25% stakes in mid-sized alternative asset managers

24 CLO managers hold J Crew loan as it drops 4.62%
A total of 109 CLOs hold $219.4 million exposure to J Crew, whose Term Loan B traded down 4.62% from yesterday 

Recent CLO debutant Vista brings in GSO official to lead credit team
Vista Credit Partners has hired a former GSO official to lead its credit team

Napier Park receives $50 million add-on from Texas pension fund
The $30.1 billion pension fund has topped up its separately managed account with Napier Park 

Ares ups its target for US senior direct lending growth to $4.7 billion
Following $5 billion of inflows into global direct lending in the third quarter, Ares has upped the target for its US direct lending strategy 

Axa IM reveals new Ucits-compliant global credit fund
The new vehicle aims to offer investors a Ucits-compliant product that invets across the whole credit spectrum 

OFS holds IPO for $50 million CLO fund
OFS Capital Management has held an initial public offering for its closed-end CLO fund, OFS Credit Company

Man Numeric launches credit platform and appoints co-heads of credit
Man Numeric, the quantitative investment business of Man Group, has launched a new credit unit and appointed two officials to lead the business

ArrowMark builds in London with big SRT hire
ArrowMark is one of the biggest investors in the SRT market, but unusually it conducts most of its business out of the US. It has now added to its presence in London with an experienced official joining its SRT business

Pimco launches latest ESG-focused credit offering
Pimco has launched its latest environmental, social and governance (ESG) fixed income offering - GIS Global Investment Grade Credit ESG Fund.

Halcyon poaches CVC's US performing credit head Raciti
Halcyon Capital Management has poached CVC Credit Partners’ Philip Raciti and appointed him head of US performing credit and portfolio manager

Calpers appoints CIO
California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), the $360 billion pension fund, has appointed Yu Ben Meng as chief investment officer.

BlackRock becomes latest manager to explore interval fund structure for credit
Several managers have hit the market with the interval fund structure, as investors look to invest in illiquid strategies through an illiquid fund structure

Ares brings in credit portfolio managers from DoubleLine and Pimco
Ares Management has bolstered its liquid credit team with the appointment of Jason Duko and Kapil Singh, who join as partners and portfolio managers

American Beacon teams up with Apollo for credit interval fund
Regulatory filings reveal that Apollo will allocate assets across four main areas: US corporate credit, global corporate credit, structured credit and real estate credit

Stifel builds out leveraged finance team with big hire
The new unit will focus on origination, underwriting, and syndication of leveraged loans and high-yield securities

Partners Group promotes Layton to co-CEO as Rubeli steps down
Partners Group has announced that David Layton, partner and head of private equity, will succeed Christoph Rubeli as the firm’s co-chief executive officer, effective 1 January 2019