First European SME CLO 2.0 edges closer after warehouse tweaks
Be-Spoke Capital’s European SME CLO is nearing the finishing line, with sources indicating NatWest Markets aims to price the deal, Alhambra SME Funding 2018-1, in early December. The development comes after the CLO exceeded the warehouse’s 12-month ramp-up period

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 

Monroe prices second new issue mid-market CLO of 2018
Monroe Capital Partners has priced its second new issue middle market CLO of the year, according to market sources

August: fund performance
CLO spreads jumped wider in August, but funds that invest in these assets have been able to outperform

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

Mid market CLOs should outperform regular CLOs in the next downturn, conference hears
Middle market CLO managers are bullish on their prospects when the credit cycle does eventually turn, according to panelists at IMN’s ABS East conference in Miami this week

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

Mid market CLO league tables: GSO and Vista join the party
The US middle market CLO industry is booming with two new managers moving into this area

GSO debuts in mid market CLOs with Diamond CLO
GSO Capital Partners' Diamond CLO is for one year with the manager pricing a short-dated mid-market deal

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

Star names join Barclays as it pushes into CLOs

Nuveen adds industry veteran Fleischhacker to private credit unit
TIAA subsidiary Nuveen has hired Jean Fleischhacker as a private credit asset class specialist within its alternative investments distribution team

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

Apollo's MidCap unit takes CLO AUM beyond $2.5 billion
MidCap Financial has taken its CLO AUM beyond $2.5 billion just 17 months after pricing its debut CLO in February 2017

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

Mid market CLOs - the expanding middle
The small band of middle market CLO managers employ a growing range of strategies - from direct lending-style origination, to dabbling in broadly syndicated loans - as they build out deals. Our analysis of mid market CLOs reveals that managers have distinguished themselves with the overlap between mid market US CLO portfolios being approximately 5%

Mid market CLO league tables: Ivy Hill closes in on Golub
Mid market CLO volumes this year have reached $9.4 billion - $1.04 billion more than the first half of 2017

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

The expanding middle
Our analysis of mid market CLOs reveals that managers have distinguished themselves with the overlap between mid market US CLO portfolios being approximately 5%

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

Experienced CSAM holds off boutiques to win biggest prize
Credit Suisse Asset Management became a two-time winner of the Creditflux Manager of the Year award last month after picking up the 2018 trophy in front of a packed house at London’s Landmark Hotel on 9 May