Fallen angels push off-the-run index 25bp wide of CDX IG
A  gap of over 25 basis points has formed between US investment grade CDX IG and its recently off-the-run predecessor series 34. At Credit Dimensions, Creditflux’s synthetic credit event, panellists highlighted a major shift in composition between index series that has opened up relative value plays between them

Europe/US high yield gap re-opens with roll, but raises fair value questions
The semi-annual roll of US high yield index CDX HY has once again put daylight between it and European counterpart iTraxx Europe. But the new series has come in tighter than some market participants had anticipated

European high yield converges on US as credit pushes wider
A worrisome week is ending with spreads pushing to new local wides and underperformance of European high yield versus US credit

Spreads gap wider as slowdown fears sink in
Concern over the gathering coronavirus second wave, economic slowdown and the need for further central bank interventions has pushed credit spreads sharply wider, with yesterday’s US late session downturn spilling over to Asia and Europe

Curves steepen as roll shifts risk from the front end
CDS index curves have steepened with the September roll, with the reformulation of iTraxx and European portfolios having a noticeable impact on the front end of the curve

Index roll brings sea change for US/Europe relative value
The roll of CDS indices to new series has shifted relative value measures between Europe and the US, with CDX indices trading in a tighter context to their new iTraxx counterparts

Fallen angels and financials feel heat as CDS indices roll
CDS indices are rolling into new contracts today, with outgoing series of iTraxx Europe and Crossover widening sharply from the market’s open on technical as well as fundamental factors

Brevan Howard raids ExodusPoint for credit derivative specialists
Brevan Howard has hired credit derivative specialists from ExodusPoint Capital Management with a view to expanding in credit options

Credit retreats from tights as central banks offer reality check
European credit is following Asia wider today, picking up from where the US left off yesterday as the Federal Reserve vowed to keep overnight rates near zero for the coming years

Crossover dips below 300bp as retailers leave the basket
The removal of defaulting constituents Hema  and Matalan from iTraxx Crossover has helped take the index to its tightest prints since the start of the coronavirus sell-off

Noble and Hema produce disparate pay outs for CDS
This week has brought the high and lows of CDS settlement, with Noble Corporation bestowing an ultra low high pay-out for protection buyers after Hema protection sellers suffered less of a hit than was modelled by assumed recoveries

Palm Lane launches credit relative value fund with $200 million after PM hires
Palm Lane Capital has raised about $200 million for a global credit relative value hedge fund, which went live on 1 September

Opportunities knock as Credit Dimensions returns in vibrant tranche market
Creditflux will showcase the cutting edge of CDS market developments next week as Credit Dimensions, our annual deep-dive into structured synthetic credit, returns in a virtual format

Ensco does not require credit event auction, says DC
There will be no credit event auction to settle Ensco International CDS since its bonds and CDS are thinly traded, the Americas Determinations Committee has said

Cautious open sets credit at odds with equity
A positive open to the week for European stock markets is not reflected in cautious credit trading, with spreads generally flat to slightly wider

Credit spreads see-saw as US tech slump puts market in reverse
A sharp about-face in sentiment, driven in part by US tech sector weakness, has put credit markets back to more or less where they began the week - having hit new post-covid tights in between

Credit event auctions mount as European resistance breaks
Two constituent defaults in iTraxx Crossover — the first to hit the European on-the-run index in almost two years — have made 2020 the second busiest year ever for credit event auctions

Dislocation and costly payment debacle highlight loan tech lag
Coronavirus-led dislocation in the leveraged loan market, as well as a bank’s recent claims of human error in making a large loan payment, underscore the industry’s need to embrace long-overdue efficiency improvements

Ensco CDS leap wider on credit event trigger
CDS contracts referencing Ensco International, a Houston based subsidiary of offshore driller Valaris, have shot wider after the Americas Determinations Committee ruled the company has triggered a bankruptcy credit event

HY rallies as curve steepening picks up
Credit spreads may have normalised since the March/April peaks of the coronavirus sell-off, but relative value investors are still finding a wide array of trading dislocations beneath the headline numbers

Financial CDS move points to relative value boost
The credit derivatives market could take an important step towards greater versatility with the 21 September roll, as participants again consider whether to begin including financial names in the CDX IG investment grade index

Credit hedge funds (September 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Ucits at a glance: Five funds lift YTD returns above 5%
Five funds have managed to pull their year to date figures above 5%; Loomis Sayles (7.50%), Algebris (5.82%), Pictet (5.53%), Amundi (5.36%) and Advent (5.11%)

Credit funds at a glance (September 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Fund performance: Almost a third of credit funds reach positive YTD returns
July has been a successful month for many credit funds, despite the recovery peaking in May and June