NXT launches first direct lending fund since Orix takeover
NXT Capital is back in the market fundraising for its sixth direct lending fund, NXT Capital Senior Loan Fund VI, according to US regulatory filings 

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.

Fortress digests CraftWorks bankruptcy
CraftWorks Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, with Fortress Investments holding all of the Tennessee restaurant operator's first lien debt - of which over half is in middle market CLOs. The New York-based firm has submitted a “stalking horse” bid to buy CraftWorks' assets

CLOs show coronavirus resistance even as bonds and loans suffer
CLO managers are - so far - looking defensively positioned in relation to the coronavirus outbreak, with only two of the five largest portfolio sectors listed as very negative in latest Wells Fargo research. But investor fears have all but closed the loan and bond primary pipeline, while lower rates signalled by the US Federal Reserve could spell a fall in leveraged loan and CLO demand

Massachusetts pension commits $200 million to structured and corporate credit
Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust has approved commitments with CKC Credit Opportunity and LMCG Serenitas  

Pretium buys Latigo to boost distressed capabilities
Pretium Partners has bought the investment management business of New York-based Latigo Partners, in a bid to expand the firm’s distressed debt and event-driven credit capabilities. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Eldridge promotes structured products head
Eldridge Industries has promoted its structured products head to principal

Lord Abbett preps floating rate interval fund with monthly share repurchase
Lord Abbett Enhanced Floating Rate Fund will invest at least 80% of its assets in floating rate products including senior secured or unsecured loans, second lien debt and floating rate structured credit including CLOs

VIP Cinema makes uncomfortable viewing for CLOs as it's reeled into Chapter 11
CLOs hold $52.9 million of debt in seatmaker VIP Cinema Holdings, which has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of Delaware

Mid-market lender Comvest sells minority stake to Affiliated Managers

Comvest Partners has sold a minority equity stake to Affiliated Managers Group. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.  

Loomis Sayles loses out as US pension shifts to higher-quality credit
Dallas Police and Fire Pension System is liquidating a loan portfolio managed by Loomis Sayles, as it reallocates assets away from high yield towards investment grade

Pantheon and Solutio join forces on €250 million private debt secondaries fund
Pantheon Ventures and Munich-based Solutio have held a final close on their inaugural joint private debt secondary fund above its €250 million hard-cap

McClatchy bankruptcy adds to slew of US media credit events
The McClatchy Company, a media sector constituent of CDS index CDX HY, has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Determinations Committee has ruled

Axa terminates $14 billion fixed income mandate with AB as it takes assets in-house
Axa has terminated a $14 billion taxable-fixed income investment mandate with AB

KKR closes $1.3 billion global impact fund
KKR has made a final close of its KKR Global Impact Fund SCSp at $1.3 billion  

Michigan pension appoints Shenkman Capital for HY
Retirement System of the City of Detroit has appointed Shenkman Capital Management to oversee a short duration high yield portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux.  

Italian financials put Europe's best foot forward as US outperforms
Financial credits are once again leading the way as the market continues this week’s sharp return rally

Apollo Global Management ends year with a bang
CLOs returned 8% while direct origination continues to be "rocket fuel", the company said

Ares buys seven CLOs from Crestline Denali
Ares Management has bought management contracts for seven Crestline Denali CLOs

California pension earmarks $190 million for IG structured credit as it goes defensive
San Mateo County Employees Retirement Association has earmarked $190 million to a securitised credit managed account

Bifurcation in loan market will continue in 2020, says MUFG
Bifurcation in the leveraged loan market, a trend that dominated the market in 2019, looks set to continue in 2020, according to MUFG’s co-head of debt capital markets Jeffrey Knowles

Jefferies shelves structured synthetic plans as key man departs
Jefferies has put on ice its plans to build out a synthetic CDO origination, structuring and trading unit, having parted ways with the veteran specialist tasked with driving the venture

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

Louisiana pension earmarks $30 million for US private credit
This isn’t a first time relationship for the $1.8 billion pension fund, who previously granted  $50 million to the manager's previous fund in October 2018

CIFC pushes into US high yield with three senior hires from Millennium
CIFC Asset Management is expanding its high yield investment business and has hired three officials from Millenium Management