Churchill appoints head of underwriting
Churchill Asset Management has announced several promotions including head of underwriting and managing director, underwriting and portfolio management

Carlyle performance dips in Q4, but credit teams ride global volatility
Credit fund performance dipped for the Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter, as market volatility and fund outflows put a dent in the industry’s much stronger performance of the previous three quarters

Partners Group private debt assets hit €15.36 billion
Partners Group, the Swiss alternatives manager, secured €5 billion of new private debt commitments in 2018, propelling the firm’s private debt assets under management to €15.36bn

Head of European private debt Bone earns promotion at Partners
Partners Group’s head of private debt in Europe, Christopher Bone, has been promoted to partner as one of 10 senior-level promotions announced by the firm

Muzinich aims to take granular portfolio tactic across Europe
Muzinich has put together what it describes as a “direct lending 2.0” strategy, which it anticipates will serve as a solution to the constraints faced by middle market lenders in Europe. The firm launched the Italian version of the strategy in November via its Italian subsidiary Springrowth SGR and is looking to create follow-ups in other European jurisdictions

NewStar rebrands to First Eagle one year after acquisition
The mid-market lender has rebranded and adopted its parent’s name First Eagle Investment Management 

Golub Capital BDC looks to become fourth largest publicy traded BDC with merger
Golub Capital is seeking approval from its shareholders to merge its Golub Capital business development company (GBDC)  with another one of its business development companies, Golub Capital Investment Corporation (GCIC)

KKR promotes three European credit specialists to managing directors
KKR has promoted several members of its team to managing directors - including a former US CLO portfolio manager

Neiman Marcus loan slumps amid debt restructuring talks
The luxury fashion retailer’s $2.95 billion cov-lite term loan B, due October 2020, traded down 1.65%, according to IHS Markit 

Blackstone builds on multi-asset approach with fifth fund
The new vehicle will invest directly into Blackstone deals across its alternatives platform

Recent CLO debutant Vista brings in GSO official to lead credit team
Vista Credit Partners has hired a former GSO official to lead its credit team

Missouri pension plan seeks alternatives consultant
The $8.2 billion Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS) is seeking an alternative investment consultants

Tikehau’s private debt AUM hits €7.5 billion
Tikehau Capital, the Paris-based asset management and investment firm, has reached €7.5 billion in private debt assets under management (AUM) as of September 2018. This represents an increase of 17% for the third quarter, amounting to €1.1 billion  

Ares ups its target for US senior direct lending growth to $4.7 billion
Following $5 billion of inflows into global direct lending in the third quarter, Ares has upped the target for its US direct lending strategy 

Pimco generates listed opportunistic energy credit fund
Pimco is eyeing the energy sector for a new opportunistic credit fund, according to US regulatory filings.

Blackstone grows credit assets by 31% over year
The firm achieved strong fundraising in credit, taking credit-related assets under managment to $130.6 billion in the third quarter, a 31% increase year-on-year 

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

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

Oaktree raises new special situations fund while CIO warns of direct lending risk
Oaktree Capital Management has released its second quarter 2018 results in which the Los Angeles-based firm reported $2.4 billion of new capital commitments in the quarter

Sovereign investors' allocation to alternative credit increase rapidly, finds survey
Sovereign investors are increasing their exposure to CLOs, direct lending and bank loans, according to a 2018 Global Sovereign Asset Management Study published by Invesco this week

BDCs turn to CLO financing as effective alternative to bilateral leverage agreements
Business development companies now have the ability to take on an extra turn of leverage, but rating constraints mean they could end up using CLOs instead

Neuberger's Dyal acquires minority stake in HPS
Dyal Partners, a division of Neuberger Berman, has acquired a minority equity stake in global credit manager HPS Investment Partners

Credit interval funds thrive as investors value liquidity profile
“The interval fund structure’s time has come," says BlueBay's Blair Reid

Carlyle and Oppenheimer opt for interval fund structure as part of JV
The new private credit fund will invest at least 80% across loans and structured credit (Including CLOs), opportunistic credit, direct lending and liquid credit, SEC filings reveal