Credit fundraising: November marks turning point as fund launches spike
November was always set to be an important month as the world awaited the US election outcome and the results of covid-19 vaccine being trials. This did nothing to slow down fund managers as 14 funds launched, up from only four funds launching in September and five in October

Certior targets smaller distressed funds as it launches fund of funds
Certior Special Opportunities Fund is targeting distressed debt, opportunistic strategies, special situations, non-performing loans and asset-backed securities 

BNP Paribas AM names CIOs for real estate and infra debt
BNP Paribas Asset Management has announced four Paris-based appointments within its private debt and real assets team, including chief investment officers for its real estate debt and infrastructure debt team

LP round up: Monroe and Angelo Gordon beat 25 for direct lending mandate, as private credit plans brew
US public pension funds have disclosed $1.2 billion in commitments to credit focused strategies

Ex-Highland officials launch Dallas credit management firm
Former officials at Highland Capital Management - Mark Okada, Jack Yang and Trey Parker - have launched a new credit investment firm in Dallas named Sycamore Tree Capital Partners, with plans to invest in and issue CLOs as part of a focus on traded credit, structured products and special situations

Schroders closes structured credit fund at $1.5 billion
Schroders has raised $1.5 billion for its latest structured credit fund, Focus II

GoldenTree targets $900 million for latest structured credit fund
GoldenTree Asset Management is targeting $900 million for GoldenTree Structured Products Fund VII, which looks to be the firm's latest offering focused on structured credit

Skybridge looks to cut structured credit and distressed debt exposure
SkyBridge Capital, the fund of hedge funds manager run by ex-White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, is set to curb the structured credit and distressed corporate debt exposure in its SkyBridge G II Fund

Indiana pension allocates $160 million to CLO dislocation strategy and real estate debt
Indiana Public Retirement System has allocated $160 million to two credit funds focused on CLOa and real estate debt, according to recently released board documentation

GSO to rebrand as Blackstone Credit
GSO Capital Partners, the credit management arm of the Blackstone Group, is set to rebrand itself as Blackstone Credit

LP round up: $2.8 billion flows to credit as Apollo concedes fundraising may slow
Florida Retirement System Trust Fund made the largest commitments allocating $1.6 billion. Apollo meanwhile acknowledged a potential slowdown in fundraising as investors await results on an independent review into CEO Leon Black's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Managers brave covid-hit sectors to drum up returns
Price dislocations among companies operating in industries affected by covid-19 mean they may offer some of the best opportunities for CLO managers and CSO investors — and sources say that neglecting these sectors could hurt performance

Credit rally slows but structured finance funds gain
Corporate credit spreads levelled off in September, which means that 63% of funds in the Creditflux database have just a single quarter left to make it to positive returns for the calendar year.  

Fund performance: Structured finance finds its footing with credit rally
For the first time this year we have seen a structured finance fund take the top spot, as Serone Key Opportunities Fund leads a multitude of other funds in this category in the top 10 of our monthly fund rankings

Ucits at a glance: European funds and CLOs head rankings
Ucits fund returns

Credit funds at a glance (November 2020)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Credit hedge funds (November 2020)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

The structured credit industry could promote its benefits more
Filippo Sampietro takes our credit quiz

Equity tranche shorts gather for fallen angels
Investor views are starting to form around on-the-run iTraxx and CDX index tranches, following their rolls into new versions at the end of September and start of October

Insurance firm seeks CLO debt and ABS exposure
Investment consultant Callan is requesting proposals on behalf of an undisclosed insurance company for a CLO manager and ABS manager

BofA sees fruits of its labour after rebuilding macro credit and index businesses
Bank of America is among the dealers that is revelling in the re-emergence of relative value credit trading this year with the bank's index tranche and index trading volumes up roughly 85% and 70% this year

Fintech provider Allvue Systems appoints CEO
Allvue Systems, a provider of investment technology solutions to fund managers and investors in private debt, private equity and alternative assets including loans and CLOs, has named Mark Heimbouch as chief executive officer

Credit fundraising: Dubai manager gets in on the act as direct lending takes off
Shuaa launches credit fund in the Gulf as Ares, Contingency, HPS and Perceptive are among those to close billion-plus funds

Medalist CIO moves to fintech company in New York
Structured credit specialist Medalist Partners has parted ways with chief investment officer Brian Herr, who has taken up a role with a fintech company

Apollo appoints head of credit valuations from sell-side
Apollo has appointed a head of credit valuations, as its previous head of credit valuations has transitioned internally to cover private equity valuations