Post-CPI relief rally gives way to bears as reality bites
A bearish tone has returned to financial markets in the latter part of the week, despite investors seemingly taking in stride the highest US inflation growth numbers for almost 40 years

Ucits at a glance: Robus and Altana dip but stay at the top
In October, Ucits funds continued a slide that had begun the previous month with 60% of them in the red

US leads charge in strong relief rally
Credit markets have entered a relief rally on rising optimism the omicron covid variant will not prove as severe as had been feared

Reality check for credit as omicron research timeline extends
Another dose of harsh reality has sunk into financial markets on Tuesday, as investors continue to reappraise the impact of tightening travel restrictions and the timeline for pharmaceutical work to address the omicron covid-19 variant

Traders hunt for Monday bargains in Black Friday debris
The turmoil of Black Friday has given way to a counter-wise move on Monday, with financial markets latching onto scraps of hope over the weekend following the panic of a newly discovered covid-19 variant

Credit Fundraising: Private credit and CLO captive equity feature strongly as closes mount up
Credit funds have made a fair start to the fourth quarter, although the $21 billion raised during October is down substantially on September’s impressive record for 2021

LP round up: no Stoptober as investors allocate $5 billion to credit
US institutional investors allocated $5 billion to credit funds in October, with Oak Hill and Pimco among the biggest mandates    

Investors take deep breath ahead of US jobs report
Credit and equity markets are taking a cautious pause ahead of Friday's much-watched US jobs data, which could provide new context for discussions on central bank support for assets in the coming weeks

CLO fund comes top by distance in middling month for credit
A CIS Asset Management fund, which invests mainly in US CLO equity, was the star performer in March after gaining 7.36% in the month

French foodco CDS jumps on bond offering
Picard, the French frozen foods company, is a big underperformer in credit markets on Monday, as it limbered up to bring a triple-tranche bond deal

It's all relative: CLO spreads explore record tights as credit indices hit impasse
CLO spreads are grinding to ever tighter levels, despite a flattish week for credit in which corporate credit indices have ended up more or less unchanged

It's all relative: CLOs are lagging no more, as Carlyle deal drags market tighter
“CLOs are lagging” has been a much repeated refrain over the last nine months. But Carlyle Group has this week produced a US CLO that has dragged spreads to their tightest point in three years so that, rather than comparing CLOs to pre-covid levels, they should be assessed against early 2018

Europcar CDS auction shocks protection buyers with zero pay-out
Wednesay's auction to settle Europcar Mobility Group CDS has left protection buyers on the company with nothing to show for their investments and hedges, after dealers produced an unexpected 100% recovery on contracts due to a technical mismatch in bids and orders

LP round up: Arcmont, Ares and Sixth Street win European direct lending mandates
Investors have allocated around $2 billion to credit funds in recent weeks, according to board documentation seen by Creditflux. Among those to recieve allocations include ADM, Arcmont, Ares, Audax, Bain, Centerbridge, Clearlake, Goldman Sachs merchant banking,  Invesco, Monarch, Oaktree, Raven, Sixth Street and Sound Mark

Compression plays out as HY and European CLO double Bs outperform
Investment grade and high yield credit spreads have tightened in sync with each other this week, but CDS and CLOs alike underline that the big theme over the past month has been compression between investment grade and high yield

Single name shorters get improved entry point after conviction test
Returning market optimism has taken credit spreads back to ultra-tight levels. But for bears, this posits a better entry level for short trades, and the recent blow-out may have given strong pointers where to target them

Dach mid-market lending is 'back to business', GCA Altium survey reveals
Mid-market lenders in the German-speaking region appear to be back to business, with around 90% of banks and debt funds open to evaluate new financing opportunities, according to a September survey by GCA Altium

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

Matalan becomes first Crossover index default in over year
Matalan, the UK based retailer, is the first default to hit the on-the-run series of Europe's iTraxx Crossover index, with the Determinations Committee ruling it has triggered a bankruptcy credit event

CSOs start printing again with new money ready to invest
The synthetic bespoke market is putting behind it the turmoil of recent months, with a pipeline of new CSO transactions starting to price and a swelling supply of new money lining up to invest.

Fund performance: Credit funds post double-digit gains
June returns have once again been led by CLO funds, as seven out of the top 10 belong to our CLOs category.

Don’t be a hero: managers opt to go market-neutral
There’s yet more volatility in store later this year — that’s the consensus according to credit portfolio managers that have spoken to Creditflux. What they are unsure about is the scale and direction of this movement, which is leading them to prune their portfolios with an emphasis on market-neutral tactics

New funds move in as tranche trades take off
Synthetic structured credit funds are proving popular with investors amid a spike in index tranche trading

Banks and high yield corps lead charge as results prompt European rally
High yield corporate credit is today's outperforming part of the market as European credit rallies back from its recent wides, as the latest round of earnings proves stronger than many had expected

US and Europe diverge as loan trading bands emerge on the continent
Europe and the US are on different courses with credit indices having drifted apart over the past month, say trading sources. Europe is expected to suffer fewer defaults to the extent that "it’s getting quite difficult for borrowers to default”, as one source put it. But the US has "higher growth potential due to its more dynamic economy"