Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

The View from ION Analytics: paradise blues
The reopening of economies from Covid-19 lockdowns has created distortions in financial markets that are harder to navigate than those of the original sell-off in early 2020. Even big-name economists and central bankers are confused, changing their views in recent weeks. 

Squarepoint draws big name options market maker to buy side
An experienced credit options trader has decided to join the systematic and quant strategies manager in a change of career from working on the sell side

Ashurst hires senior structured credit and derivatives lawyer
Law firm Ashurst has added a partner to its global markets practice in New York

Green QE is future, says BofA
Last week's European Central Bank strategy review confirmed that climate change policies will dictate the shape of future asset purchases, say Bank of America credit strategists

CSO pipeline strengthens following ESG breakthrough
ESG criteria and longer investment horizons are driving new business in a resurgent bespoke tranche market, say dealers. And while this is unlikely to get 2021 near to a 2019-like haul of deals by year end, hopes are high that volume is firmly back on an upwards traject

Credit spreads gap wider as growth fears rock market
Credit indices have gapped wider and stocks slumped, with government bonds making gains, amid rising concern about future economic growth prospects and the impact of central bank policy

Diversity database shines light on credit firms not stepping up
Private credit managers are significantly lagging behind their industry counterparts when it comes to hiring under-represented groups, including front office, distribution and investment committee roles, according to data from Diversity­Metrics, a new data-driven platform launched by executive search firm Jensen Partners

Fund performance: Déjà vu as April leaders dominate
CLO funds stayed in the top flight for another month as they took over the top 10 credit hedge fund return table in May, when 87% of all funds listed made positive returns

Credit index tranche trading on the rise amid low dispersion
At its halfway point, 2021 is shaping up as another big year for credit index tranche trading, with new investors having entered the market and dealers projecting full-year volume could vie with 2020’s record of recent times.

Credit grind pushes back volatility bets
With recent weeks having all-but crushed volatility from the market, uncertainty about the timing of future risk triggers is leading credit options traders to spurn traditional horizons to focus on longer-dated expiries

Credit slumbers in departure lounge as airline equities take off
Credit and equity markets have been in a balancing act on Tuesday between the positive and negative implications of surging oil prices and Germany opting to relax travel restrictions

French food producer gets cold shoulder following bond issue
Picard, the French frozen foods producer, is one of the biggest movers in the European high yield market on Monday, after investors showed little warmth for its new bond issue in the secondary market

All eyes on NFP as credit seeks exit from 'no man's land'
Credit markets look to be ending wider on the week but, with focus mainly on today's US non-farm payroll numbers, the lack of movement in early trading could give way to a stronger directional play ahead of the long US weekend

Birch Grove merges with American Securities' credit business
US private equity firm American Securities has merged its opportunistic credit business, Ascribe Capital, with boutique alternative credit hedge fund Birch Grove Capital

Tranche trader leaves Apollo for sell side
BNP Paribas has filled a gap in its structured credit trading group with the hire of an index tranche market maker

It's all relative: CDX HY touches record tights but junior US CLO tranches leak wider
Credit spreads are marching tighter, but someone forgot to tell the CLO market. European and US CDS spreads have moved in step with each other for the most part with investment grade and high yield tightening 4-6% in the last week, whereas CLOs have been losing ground

Real estate firm blows wider but BoE allays broader market concerns
Adler Real Estate traded sharply against trend as high yield credit spreads hit new post-pandemic tightest levels on Thursday

Chicken supplier takes courage from earnings improvement
Boparan, one of the riskiest companies in the European high yield credit market, is among the biggest movers in bonds and CDS on Wednesday, as the market resumes its rally to the tightest prints of the year

Triple Bs in the firing line as Fed turns hawkish, says BofA
Triple B and long duration credit are likely to be casualties of tightening central bank policy, Bank of America strategists have warned. But high yield and cyclical investment grade sectors could fare better

High yield chemical co gaps tighter on bond buy-back
Chemical producer K+S Group is a big improver in credit on Thursday even as the rest of the market moves wider, after it announced a tender offer for bonds

Axa IM extends palm oil policy to cover ecosystem protection and deforestation
Axa Investment Managers says it is expanding its 2014 policy of excluding investments in companies which do not have sustainable palm oil production certificates by factoring in deforestation and ecosystem protection

Credit indices hit impasse after US high yield returns to pre-covid tights
Credit improvement looks to be taking a breather on Thursday after the compression play in CDS indices took US high yield index CDX HY to its tightest prints since February 2020, before the outbreak of covid-19 began to blow out spreads

Shipping firm adds buoyancy amid few signs of choppiness in credit
CMA CGM, the French container shipping company, is a big mover today amid very calm waters elsewhere in credit.

BlueBay hires Germany/Austria institutional sales official in new role
BlueBay Asset Management has tapped a former bfinance official as head of institutional sales Germany and Austria, a newly created job