Credit Rendezvous: heading for homes
Fund managers in structured credit, real assets and distressed are bullish on the prospects for residential housing in 2021. Elsewhere, niche royalty-based strategies are in favour and although a CLO repricing wave is expected, it may not be easy to execute resets. For more, read our 13-page quarterly report on credit. 

Credit beats fast retreat as Biden boost dissolves in sea of troubles
The improvement of financial markets following the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president on Wednesday is looking short-lived as the week comes to an end, with CDS indices once again among the poorer performers

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

Europcar sets course for high recovery in 2021's first credit event auction
An auction to settle CDS referencing Europcar Mobility Group has generated an initial market midpoint of 73.5 cents, implying the pay-out to protection buyers could be only 26.5 cents - much lower than five-year CDS contracts had implied

Europcar auction faces challenge with tight turnaround
The Emea Determinations Committee has little time to settle a challenge on Europcar Mobility Group deliverable obligations if an auction to settle CDS contracts referencing the defaulted French vehicle hire firm is to take place on time this week

Disconnect as credit sells off as stocks and oil strengthen
Credit is a big underperformer today versus stocks, with the sell off that began yesterday afternoon starkly at odds with the positive tone with which the week began

Financials lead as credit opens 2021 with optimism
Financial credits, and particularly banks, are among the big movers today with the market having opened 2021 in buoyant mood following agreements on a Brexit deal and US stimulus package

Sharp reversal for banks, travel and commodity firms as EU shuts borders
About a month's worth of improvement in high yield credit spreads - and nearly two months in investment grade - has been wiped out today, with European countries banning flights from the UK and Brexit talks missing a key deadline

Fund performance: CLOs look to continue recovery with end of the year in sight
CLO funds claim the majority of positions in our top 10

Ucits at a glance: Year-to-date returns head for double figures
Ucits funds generally performed well in October as 75% achieved positive returns

Credit funds at a glance (January 2021)
A round-up of fundraising and people moves

Credit hedge funds (January 2021)
Monthly credit hedge fund tables

Europcar CDS auction date set
The Emea Determinations Committee has set a date in January to settle CDS referencing Europcar Mobility Group

Credit sell off gathers pace ahead of Brexit crunch day
With both sides in the EU-UK negotiations conceding that trade talks are most likely to conclude on Sunday without an agreement, credit is again a big underperformer today as more longs cut and run while hedging picks up

Europcar triggers first credit event in Crossover series 34
Europcar Mobility Group has triggered a failure to pay credit event, the Emea Determinations Committee has ruled

Index sell off hits at start of busy week for primary
Credit is stumbling into the week, with a widening of index spreads that noticeably underperforms stock markets

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

ECB stimulus hopes bolster high yield outperformance
Spread compression has picked up again, with European high yield taking the lead as expectations mount for another round of European Central Bank stimulus at its meeting next week

Highbridge closes convertible dislocation fund with over $2 billion to deploy
Highbridge Capital Management has held a final closing of its convertible dislocation fund

Europcar posed as failure to pay credit event
Europcar Mobility Group has been proposed to the Emea Determinations Committee as a failure to pay credit event, following the French vehicle hire firm's announcement of a financial restructuring

Wide-end names gain ground as market hits impasse
Financial markets appear to have a hit resistance points in several asset classes today, with credit, stocks and oil prices struggling to find traction despite encouraging signals from the UK on rolling out the Pfizer/BioNTech covid vaccine

Spread compression resumes with US passing key milestones
Credit markets have resumed their crunch tighter today, with an absence of any obviously negative brakes to offset strengthening Asian industrial numbers and applications by vaccine makers for emergency approval in the US and Europe

Bulls give up some gains as IG banks and energy lead market wider
In a cautious opening to the week, credit spreads are edging wider against a backdrop of faltering oil prices but marginally strengthened stocks

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