September: credit funds at a glance
White Oak Global Advisors held a $2.1 billion final close on a new direct lending fund, while Phil Raciti's move from CVC Credit Partners to Halcyon Capital Management was one of the biggest moves in the credit industry

BlackRock becomes latest manager to explore interval fund structure for credit
Several managers have hit the market with the interval fund structure, as investors look to invest in illiquid strategies through an illiquid fund structure

Louisiana pension fund assigns $200 million to DoubleLine and GoldenTree
Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System has allocated to distressed debt and mortgage credit funds run by two experienced asset managers

Institutional investors are too constrained in their private debt approach, research suggests
Institutional investors are too constrained in their approach and are focusing too much on mid-market corporate direct lending, research from global advisory firm Willis Towers Watson suggests

Credit drives strong returns for five of the largest asset managers in the business
Carlyle is close to hitting its ambitious fundraising target; direct lending has been kind to Ares; and Och-Ziff has decided to shed its US CLO risk retention stakes after exiting its financing agreements

BlackRock seeks $1 billion for new multi-strat opportunities fund
The new trust will invest at least 80% of its assets in fixed income securities and up to 40% in special situations, SEC filings reveal 

Real estate debt takes off as funds raise billions
Octopus's Ludo Mackenzie on why real estate debt is attractive: “In absolute terms, property yields are close to where they were in 2007, which would imply that the asset class is fully priced. In relative terms, however, compare commercial property yields to the risk-free rate and there is a healthy margin of around 3.5%.”  

Ostrum and Natixis unite to launch real asset private debt platform
The new real asset private debt arm will target €6 billion AUM by 2020 and focus on three sectors: real estate, infrastructure and aviation

Oaktree raises at least $2.1 billion for second real estate debt fund
Los-Angeles Oaktree Capital Management has beaten its original $1.75 billion target size for Oaktree Real Estate Debt Fund II, US SEC filings reveal

Structured credit PM earns promotion as Pimco unveils new managing directors
Structured credit portfolio manager Russell Gannaway is among seven officials to have been promoted to managing director at Pimco

Aberdeen Standard Investments launches global private markets fund
Aberdeen Standard Investments has launched a £138 million Global Private Markets Fund (GPMF), which will invest in a diversified mix of private credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure

Managers predict skill will win out
We asked managers to predict the year ahead across a range of credit strategies. Overall, they had a positive outlook. By Grace Jennings-Edquist

Goldman closes third real estate credit fund with $6.7 billion in total capital
Goldman Sachs has completed its final close for its latest real estate credit investment vehicle, which has $6.7 billion in total capital available to invest including leverage

Carlyle, ICG and Oaktree earn approvals as Chile's first alternatives managers
The news follows recent reforms to Chile’s Pension Fund Law allowing pension fund administrators to invest directly in alternative asset managers

Chicago-based firm closes debt fund with over $1 billion raised
LaSalle Investment Management has announced the final close of its third debt strategies fund with over £800 million ($1 billion) in commitments

Axa IM puts money to work in the US as it closes global real estate debt fund
AXA’s real estate investments arm has closed its 10^th commercial real estate senior debt fund after achieving its capped target of €1.5 billion

Institutional investors - does Europe still provide the best opportunities in credit?
Cash or synthetics, CLOs versus CMBS, senior or junior debt? Institutional investors have a variety of ways to approach credit investing and Creditflux's biannual survey of credit allocators aims to determine which market they view as offering compelling returns

Time-saving hedge fund platforms stop opportunities evaporating
Lengthy commitment periods and drawn-out negotiations between institutional investors and fund managers could be a thing of the past thanks to a wave of multi-manager hedge fund platforms

Creditflux parent rebrands as Acuris
Creditflux’s parent company gained a new name last month, with Mergermarket Group relaunching as Acuris

Leading fund: Lupus Alpha CLO Opportunity Notes I
Single-B CLO trades boost Lupus Alpha asset Management

Fund platform AMX eyeballs credit funds
Willis Towers Watson’s hedge fund platform has grown to $1.5 billion – and there is space for credit managers  

Värde closes latest fund at $1.7 billion
Credit manager Värde Partners has raised $1.74 billion for its latest fund, Värde Fund XII