Creditflux

Credit traders' kickstand: Basis and CDS curves take focus with long wait ahead for central bank direction
With almost a month to wait before the European Central Bank and US Federal Reserve hold their next decisive meetings, a bumpier and seemingly directionless road continues in credit markets as investors show little inclination to do anything more adventurous than just hold on tight

Connecticut $36 billion pension hires first chief risk officer
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has hired its first-ever chief risk officer

Buy iTraxx Europe equity tranche risk but sell Crossover mezz, says JP Morgan
Investors should stick with ‘search for yield’ ideas in investment grade credit, say JP Morgan credit strategists, including selling iTraxx Europe 0-3% equity tranches delta hedged, going long the 10-year Europe index, and selling credit volatility through index options while buying equity market volatility

Credit traders' kickstand: volatility puts paid to primary, but pays out for relative value buyers
The persistence of credit market choppiness has brought into focus CDS/bond basis plays, options positioning, high yield dispersion and peripheral European weakness - but mainly the volatility rash has put a block on borrowers' primary market aspirations

Flat curves and decompression make waves below the surface
Hopes of using the summer slowdown to get to the beach may be tempered for credit relative value traders, where opportunities abound behind the uninspiring benchmark numbers of the slow market grind.

Net short language could force lenders to sell at a loss
Signs are growing that ‘net short’ provisions in bonds and loans are getting closer to hitting CDS investors, with two instances in recent weeks of the language expanding both in geographical and functional remit.

Back to basis (and skew) as relative value plays catch-up
Basis trades between bonds and CDS failed to gain traction during July as synthetic markets held ground or improved their position versus cash, but this is beginning to change, say market participants.

Fund performance: Mercury rises as does credit fund performance

Ucits at a glance: Amundi and Loomis Sayles funds register big gains in H1

Credit funds at a glance

BlueMountain lands senior credit trader in New York
BlueMountain has hired an experienced trader in New York to cover credit and special situations

Index tranches and Sub Fin basket among top picks after ECB meeting, says JP Morgan
The European Central Bank’s statement that rate cuts will likely be paired with tiered deposit rates suggests a boost for the iTraxx Sub Financials index, as well as tier two and additional tier one bank bonds, says JP Morgan in latest credit research. The bank also advocates selling iTraxx Europe 0-3% tranches delta hedged

Credit traders' kickstand: tighter and tighter we go, as outlook gets 'worse and worse'
It’s a strange world, where the president of the European Central Bank can say the economic outlook is “getting worse and worse” as credit markets surge into new territories of tightness

Italian pension fund looks to build its exposure to bonds
Mediafond has launched a request for proposals in which it seeks out a manager to oversee a bond portfolio

Wells Fargo brings in head of IG credit trading
Wells Fargo has hired a head of investment grade credit trading and a credit sales official to its team in the US

Asia CDS index overhaul posits 50% constituent change
IHS Markit has said it will push ahead with plans to overhaul iTraxx Asia ex-Japan CDS index rules from the next roll in September, with up to half the constituents expected to change over time as it seeks closer alignment with the cash bond market

Investor requirements rather than performance is driving ESG push: Creditflux survey
Only 14% of respondents to Creditflux's global credit ESG survey said performance was the main reason they were adopting envoronmental, social and governance-themed strategies

Muzinich targets short-maturity bonds for new global IG credit fund
Muzinich & Co has raised €352 million for an investment grade credit Ucits fund on the back of what it describes as a “response to strong client demand”

CDS has spillover effect on bond liquidity but could cause fire sales, finds BoE researcher
Single name CDS positioning is positive for the bonds of borrowers referenced by the contracts through a ‘liquidity spillover effect’, according to a new paper by a Bank of England research economist. But mark-to-market losses on CDS brought about by higher margining costs could lead to fire sales in the bond market, the paper adds.

Credit traders’ kickstand: curve flatteners and skew trades gain ground
Grinding tighter is the order of the day in credit markets – and indeed looks likely to be the order for much of next week, with an absence of obvious events and catalysts to dictate otherwise. But the strength of the rally in CDS indices has left ‘catch up’ opportunities for relative value traders in curve, basis and even skew based strategies, say market participants

Deutsche Bank AT1s stage uneven recovery as financials lag broader rally
The prompt secondary market backlash to Deutsche Bank’s plans for a major haul of its investment banking business has abated, with AT1 bonds experiencing a revival and outperforming equity. But while there has been little contagion to the rest of the AT1 space, financials are lagging the broader European credit rally

Ontario pension selects new president and CEO

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has appointed Jo Taylor as its new president and chief executive officer, effective 1 January  

Tourists have turned high yield into a sketchier neighbourhood… IG credit could be the answer
Using CDS to exploit roll-down in IG credit can generate good returns even in a low-rate environment

Tranche trading is back: relative value plays power growth
Synthetic bespoke and index tranche markets are shifting through the gears and accelerating, say investors, as an increasing prevalence of relative value trading strategies evoke dreams of the products returning to pre-financial crisis glory.

Ucits at a glance