Texas pension pumps $300 million into Pimco fund
Texas Municipal Retirement System has earmarked up to $300 million to a credit fund managed by Pimco, according to board documents seen by Creditflux, building on a relationship established through a predecessor fund

McClatchy bankruptcy adds to slew of US media credit events
The McClatchy Company, a media sector constituent of CDS index CDX HY, has triggered a bankruptcy credit event, the Americas Determinations Committee has ruled

S&P prescribes Akorn with triple-C rating amid possible bankruptcy
Akorn, a pharmaceutical company, has been downgraded to triple-C by S&P, following the announcement that Akorn has agreed plans to sell all its assets to repay debt as part of its standstill agreement extension

CLOs feel flat after housing $335 million of bankrupt RentPath
CLOs house $334.5 million of the debt of RentPath Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Wednesday

Whiting Petroleum CDS gaps wider as it engages debt advisors
Credit event concerns have taken CDX HY constituent Whiting Petroleum to a recent wide print, after the energy exploration firm’s management held talks with advisors to find ways to remedy its capital structure

Angelo Gordon pulls in $1.8 billion for inaugural credit solutions fund
Angelo Gordon has held a $1.8 billion final close on an inaugural credit fund geared towards geared towards distressed debt and special situations, surpassing its initial $1 billion target size

Beneath the triple C: $1 billion of CLO credits take a dive
$957.9 million worth of loans held by CLOs suffered downgrades to triple C last month, with a further $442.1 million of existing triple C credits getting knocked lower still, according to the latest trustee reports on CLOi.

Credit Rendezvous: the outlook in 2020 across a dozen segments of the credit market
Welcome to the Credit Rendezvous, the first instalment of a regular feature published by Creditflux that tracks credit market dynamics in a dozen segments from investment grade, liquid loans, CLOs and CSOs all the way through to distressed debt. We view this as the meeting point for credit specialists across strategies to share their perspectives

Pimco plans to outperform come rain or shine with $4.5bn all-weather fund
Pimco has become the latest manager to fashion a flexible, all weather credit fund that invests across public and private markets, geographies and capital structures. The Newport Beach-based manager is hoping to raise $3 billion for the strategy. With half a turn of leverage, it could have up to $4.5 billion to deploy.

Fund performance: Presents under the tree as CLO funds perform

Credit funds at a glance

York liquidates credit opportunities fund following redemption requests
York Capital Management has decided to liquidate its 2011 vintage credit opportunities fund following what it termed 'significant redemption requests'

Private credit funds could find better buying opportunities this year, says NEPC
Institutional investors looking to allocate to private credit in 2020 should focus on distressed debt, opportunistic credit and niche lending, according to investment consultant NEPC, with 2019 vintage funds potentially seeing “better buying opportunities” despite valuations being at cyclical highs

Carlyle appoints regional head of credit opps fund
Carlyle Group has hired a managing director to serve as North American head of its credit opps fund

Credit event protocol goes into force with 60 extra sign-ups
The International Swaps & Derivatives Association is going live today with a protocol aimed at stamping out narrowly tailored credit events from the CDS market, having signed up 1,358 entities

McDermott slips into bankruptcy with CLOs holding almost $1 billion
42 CLO managers hold $957.6 million of the debt of McDermott International, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Tuesday. Under the plan, McDermott’s term loan and revolving lenders will receive 94% of McDermott’s reorganised equity and $500 million in take back senior secured term loans. Term loan claims are expected to recover 84%, according to a disclosure statement 

BC Partners seeks $1 billion close for special opportunities fund
BC Partners Advisors is targeting a $1 billion close for its recently launched special opportunities fund, according to documents seen by Creditflux.  

Calpers eyes exposure to private debt
California Public Employees Retirement System is looking to introduce private debt to its portfolio, according to documents seen by Creditflux  

Portfolio Advisors hits first close as it targets $1.5 billion for secondaries fund
Private markets specialist Portfolio Advisors has completed a first close on its latest secondaries fund at the end of December 2019, having raised between $600m to $700m, a source told Creditflux  

Sound Point creates its first fund geared exclusively to direct lending
Sound Point, which has experience of investing in middle market loans through various funds, has launched its first dedicated speciality lending fund 

We need to talk about high triple C/bond-heavy CLOs
It’s tranched, has exposure to corporate credit and looks and behaves a lot like a CLO – only it’s slightly different. There is so much variety in the CLO market that the industry is faced with a dicey problem: how do we differentiate between the different flavours of CLOs?

Private debt takes centre stage as Arizona looks to bolster credit allocation to 25%
Arizona State Retirement System remains bullish on credit with the $41.9 billion institution looking to bolster its entire credit allocations to almost a quarter of the fund - and private debt will take centre stage in the Arizona pension’s growth plans

US pension backs two private debt managers, but retreats from syndicated loans
San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund ended 2019 bullish on private debt but shying away from syndicated loans

Värde launches $2.5 billion global credit fund
Värde Partners has raised $2.47 billion for a new global credit fund, according to an announcement today

Highland Capital Management LP working to remove founder Dondero
Highland Capital Management LP is working with the unsecured creditors committee on a new management team while the US trustee demands an independent trustee to oversee the bankruptcy