Trups CDO spreads shift wide of late 2018 levels as EJF produces $314 million deal
Trups CDO spreads have widened since the end of last year – much like corporate credit spreads – after EJF Investments priced its sixth securitisation of financial company debt.

US pension seek real estate debt managers
The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) has launched a real assets investment search, seeking private core, private core plus, and private non-core real estate managers, on both debt and equity  

UK pension looks to take investment grade strategy global
UK pension fund National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) has issued a search for a global investment grade corporate bond manager

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

Washington pension fund set to back TSSP strategy
Washington State Investment Board (WSIB), the $132.2 billion public pension fund, considers committing to TSSP Capital Solutions (TCS), according to documents seen by Creditflux.  

Pacific Gas & Electric triggers bankruptcy credit event
Pacific Gas and Electric Company has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has ruled, by 14 votes to one

CDS food fight as UNFI sues Goldman Sachs over SuperValu deal
United Natural Foods Inc (UNFI) has summoned Goldman Sachs to court, accusing the bank of bad faith in the way it handled the US retailer’s buyout of SuperValu last year, a transaction which caused the target firm’s CDS spread to bloat by over 200bp in one day

Isda seeks fallback spread vendor for derivatives
The International Swaps & Derivatives Association is seeking an independent service provider to calculate and publish adjustments to fallbacks it will use in interest rate benchmarks for its Isda definitions

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

Florida pension fund backs Atalaya distressed strategy
Florida State Board of Administration (SBA) has committed $100m to Atalaya Special Opportunities Fund VII, as part of the Florida Retirement System’s portfolio.  

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 

Activist nominates directors to Alcentra BDC's board amid "shareholder value" dispute
Activist group Stilwell is seeking board representation for the $248.6 million BDC, as Alcentra "fails to maximise shareholder value"

Pacific Gas & Electric credit event posed following Chapter 11 filing
The Americas Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee has been asked to rule on whether Pacific Gas and Electric has triggered a credit event, after the San Francisco headquartered firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in its history

$1.8 billion manager Shelton buys credit manager Cedar Ridge
The $1.85 billion multi-asset manager has bought credit-focused firm Cedar Ridge Partners

CIFC launches its first CLO Ucits fund
CIFC Asset Management has become the latest manager to launch a new CLO Ucits fund

Virginia pension fund commits to Asian private credit
Virginia Retirement System (VRS) approved a $150 million commitment to the SSG Capital Partners V fund at a January board trustees meeting, a spokesperson has confirmed.  

San Francisco pension plans to deploy $800 million to private credit in 2019
San Francisco Employee’s Retirement System will allocate $800 million to its private credit bucket in the coming year, to reach its 10% target allocation 

Sears CDS settles well above bonds on physical settlement squeeze
Predictions that credit default swaps referencing Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp would recover at a high level have been borne out, with an auction to settle the contracts having returned a value of almost 80 cents on the dollar – nearly 30 points higher than where bonds of the bankrupt US retailer have been quoted

Orchard wraps up fundraising for $2.5 billion structured credit and special opportunities fund
Orchard Global Asset Management has held a $2.5 billion final close for its structured credit and special 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

IAM closes senior debt fund at C$843 million
IAM Private Debt Group, the private debt business of Integrated Asset Management Group, has closed its sixth private debt fund at C$843 million ($634 million)

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider

Churchill reaches halfway to $1.5 billion hard cap for loan fund
Churchill Asset Management has raised at least $746.5 million for its second middle market loan fund

CIFC prepares CLO-focused fund
CIFC Asset Management is in the market with another CLO fund, only eight months after teaming up with New York-based City National Rochdale to launch a CLO-focused credit interval fund