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 

LSTA asks for return of CLO bond buckets as part of Volcker reform
The Loan Syndication and Trading Association is advocating the return of high yield bond baskets within US CLO portfolios in what could be another sign of the shackles being loosened on CLO regulation in the US

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

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

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

Star names join Barclays as it pushes into CLOs

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

Flat Rock prepares $100 million CLO equity-focused fund after big hire
Flat Rock will launch the new interval fund to primarily invest in CLO equity, with newly hired anchor CLO investor Shiloh Bates acting as one of the portfolio managers

Experienced CSAM holds off boutiques to win biggest prize
Credit Suisse Asset Management became a two-time winner of the Creditflux Manager of the Year award last month after picking up the 2018 trophy in front of a packed house at London’s Landmark Hotel on 9 May

CIFC gets in on interval fund phenomenon with new CLO-focused strategy
The new vehicle will invest at least 80% of its net assets in debt securities, with a focus on CLO equity, mezzanine tranches and warehouses, US SEC filings reveal

Carlyle and Oppenheimer opt for interval fund structure as part of JV
The new private credit fund will invest at least 80% across loans and structured credit (Including CLOs), opportunistic credit, direct lending and liquid credit, SEC filings reveal

Join the debate: most memorable moment in credit
At Creditflux we’ve now produced 200 monthly magazines since Fishknife first came up with the idea of tracking the global credit markets in 2001). We asked several key credit industry officials about their most memorable moment in credit

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

Oak Hill appoints sole head of European credit as ex-partner takes on new role
One of Oak Hill Advisors’ most senior staffers has stepped into a senior advisory role

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Fund platform AMX eyeballs credit funds
Willis Towers Watson’s hedge fund platform has grown to $1.5 billion – and there is space for credit managers  

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