Värde partners with Guber on €734 million NPL deal
Värde Partners along with Guber Banca have led a group of investors to make a joint acquisition of a €734 non-performing loan portfolio originated by 22 mutual, rural, and cooperative banks spread throughout Italy  

US pension fund earmarks $375 million for various credit strategies
Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (Mass PRIM) has committed $125 million to distressed, $100 million to aviation investments, while earmarking $150 million for structured credit    

Kartesia fills vacancy in DACH with key hire from Bayside
Kartesia has hired Guiseppe Mirante as its head of credit opportunities for DACH, according to an announcement today

Isda tables plans to rid CDS market of narrowly tailored credit events
After lengthy deliberation, a working group of major firms is today set to publish proposals aimed at ridding the market of ‘narrowly tailored credit events’, whereby borrowers are persuaded to default on debt payments in order to trigger pay-outs for CDS holders

Distressed debt prospects limited, finds survey, but most expect 16-20% returns
The coming year will be a continued slog to find investment opportunities for distressed investors, according to half of respondents in a joint survey conducted by Debtwire and law firm Orrick

Private credit delivers strong returns for Finnish pension
Valtion Eläkerahasto (VER) has generated 12.4% from its private credit funds for 2018, according to its latest annual report  

Illiquid credit boost returns for PensionDanmark
PensionDanmark has generated 5.8% returns from its illiquid credit portfolio for the year 2018, according to its latest annual report published today. But its liquid credit portfolio took a 3.4% hit

Allianz IM puts $200 million into Indian private debt
Allianz Investment Management has committed $200 million into the private debt platform of Edelweiss, an Indian diversified financial services firm.  

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

AnaCap buys €4 billion Italian SME loan portfolio
AnaCap Financial Partners has made its first transaction of its fourth credit opportunities fund 

Dealers gear up to settle Sears CDS and rule on Ziggo successor
The long wait to settle the final price of Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps will end today with a credit event auction, while investors could also learn whether there is successor to contracts referencing deregistered Ziggo Bond Finance

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

San Francisco pension bolsters private credit portfolio with €60 million commitment
San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System has awarded €60 million to a distressed debt fund 

Astaldi CDS auction sets 30.875 final price as physical settlement boosts recovery
An auction today to settle credit default swaps referencing Astaldi has determined the final price to be 30.875 cents on the euro, meaning a 69.125 cents pay-out per euro for protection buyers

Crossover converges on CDX HY as Fed, earnings and heavy technicals take hold
Big moves of single name credits continue to hold sway over the iTraxx Europe Crossover credit default swap index, whose underperformance of US counterpart CDX HY has extended during the past week amid a big technical repositioning of flows

10 bidders line up for Astaldi CDS auction as Morgan Stanley swaps in for Mizuho
There will be 10 participating bidders to an auction to settle Astaldi credit default swaps, with the Determinations Committee unanimously approving Morgan Stanley’s involvement as Mizuho dropped out

Astaldi credit event auction deadline looms for participating bidders
Firms wishing to take part next week in a credit event auction to settle Astaldi credit default swaps have until 5pm London time today (23 November) to submit participating bidder letters to the Determinations Committee

Texas pension fund commits €75 million to European distressed debt
A $30.01 billion pension fund has awarded €75 million to a European distressed debt fund managed by AnaCap Financial Partners

Los Angeles pension backs Lone Star fund
Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System has approved a commitment of up to $40 million to Lone Star Fund XI, according to a monthly report  

Managers see growth in distressed and direct lending, but structured credit splits opinion
The private credit industry remains on track to grow to $1 trillion assets under management by 2020, according to joint research published by the Alterative Credit Council and law firm Dechert with allocations to distressed and mid-market deals tipped to rise. But structured credit has divided US and European managers

US pension commits $100 million to Apollo's hybrid private credit/private equity fund
Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System has mandated $100 million to a multi-strategy fund managed by New York-based Apollo Global Management

Blackstone grows credit assets by 31% over year
The firm achieved strong fundraising in credit, taking credit-related assets under managment to $130.6 billion in the third quarter, a 31% increase year-on-year 

Astaldi credit event question posed as its distress weighs on iTraxx Crossover
Astaldi, a constituent of iTraxx Crossover, has been referred to ISDA-hosted Credit Determinations Committees as a possible bankruptcy credit event – less than two weeks after the index rolled into a new series

Goodhart unveils new platform to invest in private debt and equity firms
London-based Goodhart Partners has launched a new platform to focus on strategic minority investments, predominantly in private debt and private equity firms.

Four private credit managers score as Arizona pension fund commits $250 million
The $9.78 billion pension fund has mandated nearly $250 million to four private credit managers, alongside additional commitments for co-investment opportunities