Fracking servicer FTS files for chapter 11 protection
Fracking servicer FTS International filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston yesterday. The credit is not widely featured in CLOs with only nine managers holding $47.9 million of FTI’s term loans

US investors piled into structured credit and private lending in 2019, Gapstow finds
US institutional investors' allocations to 'alternative credit' increased 12% year-over-year in 2019, according to research by fund of funds manager Gapstow Capital Partners

Sculptor promotes two after European credit head leaves for Pimco
Sculptor Capital Management has filled the void left by Mathieu Clavel, its former head of European and Asian corporate credit in Europe and Asia, by promoting two senior figures in its credit business

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

Leucadia pushes into distressed debt as it seeds new manager
Leucadia Asset Management has made a push into special situations and distressed debt, with the Jefferies’ subsidiary announcing a strategic partnership with FourSixThree Capital. Leucadia will provide seed capital to newly formed FourSixThree, as part of that transaction

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

iQor files for chapter 11 with CLOs holding $260 millon
17 CLO managers hold $263.1 million term loans of customer services provider iQor, which filed for chapter 11 protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas today

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

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

Alcentra appoints DeSimone as CEO
Alcentra has appointed Johnathan DeSimone as chief executive officer following David Forbes-Nixon’s decision to step down and take an investment role at the firm

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

Sponsors leave lenders holding equity-like risk, claims Zwirn
Loan investors are being coerced by private equity sponsors and are assuming equity risk without compensation

CLOs given workout flexibility as ‘safe harbour’ now viable
From October CLOs will be permitted to hold equity secu-rities resulting from workout situations, say lawyers at Cad-walader, Wickersham & Taft

Would-be CLO managers change tack to distressed
Institutional investors are allocating to distressed debt at a record rate, leading some first-time CLO managers to adjust their business plans

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

CLO funds top rankings, but still have ground to make up
CLOs may have taken a hammering in March but, for the fourth consecutive month, funds that invest in these assets dominate our ranking of the top performing credit funds

Hema and Matalan auctions set as DC ponders Ensco credit event
Dates have been set for credit event auctions to settle two constituent defaults in iTraxx Crossover — the first to hit the European on-the-run index in almost two years

Push tighter takes credit indices back to pre-March levels
Credit markets are hitting new tights this week, with European spreads today following the example set by the US on Monday

Valaris and Ensco posed to DC as bankruptcy credit events
Valaris and its subsidiary Ensco International Incorporated have been proposed to the Americas Determinations Committee as bankruptcy credit events after the group filed for chapter 11 protection in August

Credit fundraising: distressed keeps in favour but CLO ETFs emerge
Five months into global lockdown and distressed debt funds are still proving popular, but several managers have found success pitching other types of credit strategies

Europcar hits bumps on the road less travelled
A rough road for Europcar this week has taken its bond and CDS spreads back towards the outer reaches, setting the French car rental firm apart from a general improvement in fortunes for names at the wider end of the market