LP round up: $2.8 billion flows to credit as Apollo concedes fundraising may slow
Florida Retirement System Trust Fund made the largest commitments allocating $1.6 billion. Apollo meanwhile acknowledged a potential slowdown in fundraising as investors await results on an independent review into CEO Leon Black's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Skews flip in Europe after IG credit indices lead rally
Credit spreads are budging wider this morning after a relentless rally this week which culminated in iTraxx Main tightening 4.2bp (7.2%) and iTraxx Crossover tightening 18.8bp (5.54%) at the close yesterday

I foresee various spooky spectacles hitting our screens - and your long portfolios
Welshcake is settling in for a horror movie marathon. But in the previews he sees monsters lurking behind tight credit spreads

Chin up – it’s been a pretty good effort
CLO managers did well to survive the covid-19 crash in loan valuations — but they failed to fully capitalise on the ensuing volatility, say participants in the Creditflux CLO Census 2020

Elements work against CLO managers in Q3
CLO equity distributions fell in Q3 largely due to factors, such as Libor mismatches, that CLO managers can’t control. But these headwinds could turn in favour of managers in the near future

Wriedt’s boutique vehicle eyes rent-to-own strategy
Long-time CLO specialist Oliver Wriedt is pursuing opportunities across a range of sectors as part of his new business, which seeks to make minority equity investments in boutique asset managers

B-wic appearances boost CLO equity valuations
CLO investors who use third party valuations say that CLO equity may be undervalued

Managers brave covid-hit sectors to drum up returns
Price dislocations among companies operating in industries affected by covid-19 mean they may offer some of the best opportunities for CLO managers and CSO investors — and sources say that neglecting these sectors could hurt performance

Credit rally slows but structured finance funds gain
Corporate credit spreads levelled off in September, which means that 63% of funds in the Creditflux database have just a single quarter left to make it to positive returns for the calendar year.  

Fund performance: Structured finance finds its footing with credit rally
For the first time this year we have seen a structured finance fund take the top spot, as Serone Key Opportunities Fund leads a multitude of other funds in this category in the top 10 of our monthly fund rankings

Ucits at a glance: European funds and CLOs head rankings
Ucits fund returns

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

CLOs at a glance
A listing of CLOs that have priced in the last month

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

Insurance firm seeks CLO debt and ABS exposure
Investment consultant Callan is requesting proposals on behalf of an undisclosed insurance company for a CLO manager and ABS manager

Credit fundraising: Dubai manager gets in on the act as direct lending takes off
Shuaa launches credit fund in the Gulf as Ares, Contingency, HPS and Perceptive are among those to close billion-plus funds

New York pension allocates $250 million to CLO fund
New York State Common Retirement Fund has allocated $250 million to a CLO-focused vehicle, according to a recently released September transaction report

Apollo appoints head of credit valuations from sell-side
Apollo has appointed a head of credit valuations, as its previous head of credit valuations has transitioned internally to cover private equity valuations

Global b-wic round-up: Europe drifts wider
The CLO secondary market had a robust week with $860 million of US CLO paper and €315 million worth of European CLO bonds listed. But spreads widened off the back of concerns over lockdowns across the globe, the increased risk of downgrades and tomorrow’s US presidential election

CLO pipeline: deal flow slows ahead of US election
Only two forthcoming new issue US CLOs have been added to the pipeline this week as the election slowdown hits credit markets. This comes after eight new issue US CLOs and five European CLOs have priced over the last ten days during the pre-election rush

Stepstone subsidiary raises $35 million private markets fund for high net worth individuals
Conversus has closed an inaugural private markets fund, Conversus StepStone Private Markets, at $35 million

Ares holds €6.97 billion first close on European direct lending fund
Ares Management Group has collected $12 billion in gross credit commitments over the third quarter of the year, according to the firm’s earnings presentation, including $8.2 billion for the first closing of its fifth European direct lending fund

CLO Census results: Citi comes out top but several banks make big leaps
Citi has been voted top in five out of the eight primary CLO categories as part of the 2020 Creditflux CLO Census, but BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Natixis are among the banks that have made huge strides compared to last year

OC health check: CLOs wake up when September ends
September showed a slight but clear improvement in CLOs’ over-collateralisation test results as 182 CLOs breached an OC test during the reporting period, compared to 198 in August.

CLO pipeline: fixed income giants plan debut 2.0s with Morgan Stanley
Two large fixed income managers are pre-marketing debut 2.0 CLOs