Dealers gear up to settle Sears CDS and rule on Ziggo successor
The long wait to settle the final price of Sears Roebuck Acceptance Corp credit default swaps will end today with a credit event auction, while investors could also learn whether there is successor to contracts referencing deregistered Ziggo Bond Finance

Credit spread improvement is calm before the storm, warn strategists
European and US credit markets have begun 2019 with a more buoyant tone than they ended 2018, but strategists warn that bearish factors still outweigh and suggest the overall direction of spreads this year is likely to be wider

NN hires head of fixed income and responsible investing
NN Investment Partners (NN IP), a Dutch insurer and investment manager, has appointed a head of fixed income and responsible investing

Oaktree makes push into CLO investing with new European fund
Oaktree Capital Management is putting together a new European fund to invest in CLOs

Partners Group private debt assets hit €15.36 billion
Partners Group, the Swiss alternatives manager, secured €5 billion of new private debt commitments in 2018, propelling the firm’s private debt assets under management to €15.36bn

Mayer Brown adds CLO partner in London
Law firm Mayer Brown has appointed a CLO specialist as partner in its London office

Allianz GI expands private debt team with senior hire
The new hire will be responsible for developing Allianz GI’s mid-market debt offering across Germany

CLO equity a "top trade" for 2019, but beware ratings risk, says JP Morgan
CLO equity is one of the top trades of 2019, according to research analysts at JP Morgan in a research paper published on Friday, noting that the asset class offers ‘sticky capital in a volatile cycle'

BlueBay targets €5 billion for European direct lending strategy
BlueBay Asset Management is targeting €5 billion for its latest European direct lending strategy, according to documents seen by Creditflux, and has won $125 million in commitments from two US pension funds

UBS hits €1 billion final close for second infrastructure debt fund
UBS Asset Management has reached a final close on its second European infrastructure debt fund, Archmore Infrastructure Debt Platform II (IDP II) at €1 billion

Euro CLO league tables: New issues dominate in record-breaking year
The European CLO market bloomed to the fullest in 2018 and new issue volumes broke all records as €27.59 billion of new paper entered the market. Including all forms of refinancings, 2018 volumes reached €43.68 billion – just €2.05 billion short of 2017’s figures

Global 2018 CLO league tables at a glance
A snapshot of the overall league tables as of 31 December 2018

Muzinich surpasses target with €706 million pan-European debt fund
Muzinich & Co has held a final close for its Muzinich Pan-European Private Debt Fund at €706.25 million, surpassing its initial €500 million target 

Robeco looks to align macro fixed income with credit as it makes senior hire
Robeco has hired Jamie Stuttard as co-head of the global fixed income macro team and fixed income strategist  

JP Morgan makes big hire to its global credit trading desk
An experienced banker who has covered CLOs, CSOs, loan TRS and credit derivatives, has joined JP Morgan after leaving BNP Paribas 

Majority of investors seek to increase private credit allocations, BlackRock survey reveals
Over half of investors plan to increase their allocation to private credit in 2019, according to an institutional client rebalancing report published by BlackRock

European CLO secondary market wakes up as several b-wics emerge
European CLO issuance has been non-existent since 26 November, but a flurry of CLO b-wics have been posted over the last few days, which should give investors an indication of where bonds are trading following the prolonged period of inactivity

Strathclyde pension looks to allocate up to £1.1 billion into credit
Glasgow City Council, the administering authority for the Strathclyde Pension Fund, has launched request for proposals (RFP) seeking to appoint investment managers specialising in private corporate debt and real estate debt.

JP Morgan AM's global fixed income chief steps down
JP Morgan Asset Management’s global fixed income and currency and commodities group chief investment officer has departed the firm, a spokesperson has confirmed

Muzinich poaches Neuberger Berman MD for top fund distribution role
Muzinich has hired a global head of distribution, according to an announcement today, picking up the role previously held by Joshua Hughes, who left for CIFC Asset Management in May

Proskauer expands restructuring practice with partner in London
Law firm Proskauer Rose has strengthened its restructuring capabilities with the appointment of Elisabeth Baltay as partner

Former London Stock Exchange CEO joins CQS
CQS has moved into 2019 under a new leadership structure with Xavier Rolet being appointed chief executive officer.

Ellington opens inaugural European CLO warehouse via Barclays
The US-headquartered manager has hired Barclays to warehouse Ellington European CLO I

Head of European private debt Bone earns promotion at Partners
Partners Group’s head of private debt in Europe, Christopher Bone, has been promoted to partner as one of 10 senior-level promotions announced by the firm