Direct Lending Perspectives underlines record-breaking 2019 issuance
European direct lending volumes hit €18.2 billion in a record-breaking 2019, according to the European Direct Lending Perspectives report by Creditflux and Debtwire

Real assets are now the top picks in private credit
Direct lending is no longer the darling of the private credit market, with pension funds increasingly making space for credit strategies backed by real assets.

Investors preferred real asset debt to corporate private debt in 2019, finds Bfinance
Bfinance stated that, in dollar terms, real asset debt searches conducted by investors outweighed corporate private debt searches in 2019

Partners nears $100 billion in AUM as CLOs drive private debt growth
Swiss manager Partners Group has reached $94.1 billion in assets under management, with CLOs boosting the firm’s growth, according to its 2019 annual results  

Private debt secondaries expected to soar in 2020
Private debt secondaries grew massively in 2019 — and more is expected this year.

West coast pension looks to step up direct lending allocations
The City of Fresno Retirement System will commit $140-160 million to private credit for the next two years, according to board documentation seen by Creditflux. This comes amid a pause in direct lending commitments for the pension fund, which has not committed any capital to this market in 2019

Tikehau builds private debt secondary platform with senior hire
Tikehau Capital has bolstered its private debt capabilities with the launch of a new secondaries platform

Wells Fargo AM makes big credit hire to co-head its private strategies team
Wells Fargo Asset Management has appointed Vincent Lu to co-head the firm’s private strategies, according to an internal memo seen by Creditflux

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

Silicon Valley pension to invest $20 million in private debt
San Jose Federated City Employees Retirement System and Health Care Trust is set to make commitments of $20 million in private debt, as part of its fiscal year 2019-2020 pacing plan, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

Hamilton Lane holds $760 million final close for private credit fund
Hamilton Lane has held a $760 million final close for its latest global private credit fund, collecting slightly less capital than the manager’s predecessor fund. 

UK pension pool to launch maiden private credit offering
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership is launching its first private credit offering in early Q4, Creditflux has learned

Private debt should alleviate the next downturn, says Paul Hastings
Private debt should soften the next downturn and not exacerbate it, according to a note published by law firm Paul Hastings

Los Angeles pension fund narrows down global direct lending search to four managers
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (Lacers) has listed the finalists for a private credit mandate, according to an agenda document seen by Creditflux.  

Prospect's $500 million CLO fund merges with Stira Alcentra global credit fund
Prospect Capital Management’s $500 million closed-end CLO fund has officially merged with a global credit fund managed by Alcentra and Stira

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

Maryland pension carves out private debt bucket
The Baltimore pension fund has also mandated a total of $25 million to one direct lending fund and one distressed debt fund 

Direct lending challenges in 2019: competition, lack of quality assets and high transaction multiples
Results from Proskauer Rose's survey show these are not putting off 75% of respondents, who are fundraising for a debt fund

US pension backs Vista credit fund
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) has approved a $50 million commitment to Vista Credit Partners Fund III, according to documents from the March board of trustees meeting  

Alcentra's co-head of US direct lending switches focus to Europe - Debtwire report
Alcentra has appointed Peter Glaser as co-head of European direct lending, according to Creditflux’s sister publication Debtwire

Los Angeles pension to shortlist managers for private credit mandate
Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) is set to short-listed six firms as semi-finalists as part of a $670 million private credit mandate.  

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 

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