TCW’s CIO of fixed income says feedback loop on AI spending is broken
PODCAST: The capital spending on AI, equity prices and associated momentum are like nothing seen before – and that has broken the natural feedback loop that conventionally slows borrowing, contends Bryan Whalen, CIO of fixed income at TCW, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee

Strategic buyers drive financial services M&A as sponsors face AI disruption pressure
PE facing challenges on investment and exit sides; investment management maintains rising deal count, while sponsor appetite remains strong for insurance brokerages

Buyout Highlights – Overview of Europe Buyout and Financing Trends 1H26
The European Buyout Highlights 1H26 shows that activity rebounded strongly in the first six months of the year, with aggregate sponsor-backed deal value rising 86% year over year to EUR 110.2bn, signaling a recovery in large-cap M&A despite a softer transaction environment overall

Serta Simmons participating lenders appeal USD 403m uptier transaction ruling
The lenders filed three separate appeals in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas; Judge Christopher Lopez found in July that the lenders breached Serta’s first lien credit agreement

US SRT issuance volumes should increase in 2H – Crescent Capital
EXCLUSIVE: The firm projects 2026 global SRT issuance to hit USD 45bn after the first half of 2026 logged a record USD 18bn of issuance activity, Penny Tan, a senior director focused on bank capital solutions, told Creditflux

Pace of improvement in credit quality slowing down – KBRA
KBRA’s second-quarter Private Credit Middle Market Compendium found evidence of mounting pressure building across the market, with median revenue and EBITDA compound annual growth rates declining to 12% and 24% respectively, from 13% and 27% in Q1

Judge Alfredo Perez: How a Houston veteran’s addition affects one of bankruptcy’s premier benches
Perez was quickly handed mega cases including Sunnova, Saks, and QVC; his appointment maintains Southern Texas' reputation as a top bankruptcy venue

Chenavari sees investment staff departures as credit fund actively hires
Investment employee departures occurred in recent months; Nicolas Verle, Nicholas Yu, and Aidan Reynolds recently joined Chenavari

Consumer giants' portfolio overhaul pushes M&A to near-record highs
Unilever leads consumer giants’ retreat from underperforming categories; dealmakers shift attention toward fast-growing categories in beauty, health and wellness

Dispersion is creating value in credit despite tight spreads – PIMCO
PODCAST: While index spreads remain tight, dispersion is quite elevated, which rewards those who do the credit work, says Lotfi Karoui, multi-asset credit strategist at fixed-income behemoth PIMCO, on the latest episode of Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee

Lenders line up to join Barclays on Persistent Systems-Nagarro acquisition loan
SBI, HSBC, Citi, and MUFG may join syndicate; deal valued at USD 1.4bn, with EUR 81 per share offer price

MHR transfers Lionsgate, Telesat holdings to 'unusual' continuation vehicle
ANALYSIS: Transaction resets investment clock, allowing MHR to retain assets longer; experts say using CVs for public stocks is rare, but offers exit flexibility

SCOTUS decision shreds the independent agency model in place since 1935
Decisions by the US Supreme Court on tariffs and federal agencies will further boost corporate valuations, writes Duncan Sankey

Credit funds at a glance – July 2026
Our roundup of top performers, fundraising and moves in credit

Co-head of Permira Credit says to brace for more complex, late-cycle environment
PODCAST: While the market is clearly late in the credit cycle, it is not yet obviously at the turning point, Ariadna Stefanescu, co-head of Permira Credit tells Lisa Lee on on the latest episode of Credit Exchange

Hogan Lovells Cadwalader launches with eight CLO partners
EXCLUSIVE: The newly merged law firm now has the largest structured finance legal team in the world, with 40-45 partners globally in leveraged finance and fund finance

AI outlook one of several key macro calls for investors – BlackRock midyear forecast
‘Scarcity versus abundance’ forms the key theme for the BlackRock Investment Institute midyear global outlook, which was published on Tuesday following the institute’s two-day forum earlier in June

Bain Capital's head of European credit says he’s still a strong believer in services
PODCAST: Speaking with Lisa Lee on the latest episode of Credit Exchange, Gauthier Reymondier says he is still a “strong believer” in the European services sector

Nearwater hires Morgan Stanley’s key CLO leader
The speciality finance firm has nabbed a senior US investment banker to drive its risk retention and structured credit capital solutions

Dividend recaps stall as lenders pull back, sponsors eye alternatives
Dividend recap volume has fallen amid deep uncertainty even as GPs seek more DPI; lenders have retreated over market conditions and a dearth of quality transactions, while rising continuation vehicle usage has reduced the number of dividend recap candidates

Carlyle’s deputy CIO of credit says inflationary cost pressures starting to emerge
PODCAST: Inflationary impacts are beginning to emerge and are hard to ignore, although they remain manageable for now, according to Carlyle's deputy CIO of global credit Alex Chi on the latest episode of Credit Exchange

CalPERS appoints leaders for total portfolio approach investing, private markets
The US pension giant has hired a CPP Investments alum to lead the transition to a new portfolio investment strategy

Rate market dispersion and divergence is the theme for this year: El-Erian
Speaking at this year’s Global ABS conference, Allianz’s chief economic adviser and the former CEO of PIMCO Mohamed El-Erian said the most important issue currently facing the market is the sources and uses of funds

Don’t just sit there waiting
Credit markets are evolving and innovating. Not only are they dealing with transformative artificial intelligence technology, they are coming out with new products, investing in new ways and dealing with a changing regulatory backdrop

Connecting women in credit
This year’s Creditflux Women in CLOs networking event was held in midtown New York. It was attended by more than 100 structured credit investors, managers, arrangers and lawyers