Former DWS official claims company over-stated ESG progress: WSJ
DWS Group’s environmental, social and governance investment claims are in the spotlight after its former sustainability officer claimed the firm over-stated its ESG efforts, according to the Wall Street Journal

Key CLO official earns promotion to managing director at Z Capital
Z Capital Group has promoted two members of its investment team in New York, including a central figure on its CLO management platform

UK pension allocates £2.1 billion to CQS, Neuberger and Oaktree
Three global credit managers have won a total of £2.1 billion in credit mandates from Brunel Pension Partnership, as part of its newly launched Multi Asset Credit Fund.

It's all relative: IG index drifts wide of 50bp as European CLO triple Bs outperform
US investment grade credit has been an underperformer in the last few weeks with CDX IG trading north of 50 basis points again. But European CLO triple Bs are looking strong while there is a stronger bid for two- to three-year paper in the US

Senior research analyst joins Onex from another US CLO issuer
Onex Credit Partners has hired senior research analyst with 11 years' industry experience 

Credit Rendezvous: And breathe...
The unanimous verdict is that credit spreads will be moving wider – they have to. But the difficulty credit fund managers face is predicting when the next sell-off comes and how sharp it will be. In the Q3 instalment of Creditflux’s Credit Rendezvous, the over-riding message from portfolio managers is that there’s little point in taking on too much risk. The report features the views of prominent credit figures including Paul Horvath (Orchard), Himani Trivedi (Nuveen), Ronnie Jaber (Onex), Graham Rainbow (Alcentra) and Michelle Russell-Dowe (Schroders). The report looks at 14 segments of the market including CLOs, direct lending, leveraged loans, distressed debt and credit derivatives.  

Santander to acquire Amherst Pierpont for $600 million
Banco Santander says it has struck an agreement to acquire fixed income broker dealer Amherst Pierpont Securities

The View from ION Analytics: paradise blues
The reopening of economies from Covid-19 lockdowns has created distortions in financial markets that are harder to navigate than those of the original sell-off in early 2020. Even big-name economists and central bankers are confused, changing their views in recent weeks. 

Jefferies and SMBC form $2.25 billion partnership
Jefferies and SMBC Group have announced an alliance which will see SMBC provide a $1.9 billion credit facility to Jefferies Finance, the leveraged finance affiliate of Jefferies, and $350 million to Jefferies Group.

Alcentra hires London-based executive director in liquid loans and high yield team
Alcentra has hired a senior analyst in the firm's liquid loans and high yield team 

Diversity database shines light on credit firms not stepping up
Private credit managers are significantly lagging behind their industry counterparts when it comes to hiring under-represented groups, including front office, distribution and investment committee roles, according to data from Diversity­Metrics, a new data-driven platform launched by executive search firm Jensen Partners

Fund performance: Déjà vu as April leaders dominate
CLO funds stayed in the top flight for another month as they took over the top 10 credit hedge fund return table in May, when 87% of all funds listed made positive returns

Credit hedge funds (July 2021)
Credit hedge fund returns

"Pain is on the way: spreads are too tight, while compression and carry are done. But what if it's not?"
Welshcake reminds us that mid-cycle portfolio management is a funny old game  

CLO demand drives loan outperformance versus bonds
Leveraged loans could be set for their strongest run of outperformance over high yield bonds since 2017, say investors and strategists ­— if the CLO engine and an influx of money to funds continues to drive flows

Birch Grove merges with American Securities' credit business
US private equity firm American Securities has merged its opportunistic credit business, Ascribe Capital, with boutique alternative credit hedge fund Birch Grove Capital

KKR opens Stockholm office
KKR has expanded its presence in the Nordics with an office in Stockholm

It's all relative: CDX HY touches record tights but junior US CLO tranches leak wider
Credit spreads are marching tighter, but someone forgot to tell the CLO market. European and US CDS spreads have moved in step with each other for the most part with investment grade and high yield tightening 4-6% in the last week, whereas CLOs have been losing ground

CLO demand to drive loan outperformance over bonds: BNP Paribas
The buying power of CLOs and funds could mean leveraged loans rally further and outpace high yield bonds, says BNP Paribas' credit research team

Axa IM extends palm oil policy to cover ecosystem protection and deforestation
Axa Investment Managers says it is expanding its 2014 policy of excluding investments in companies which do not have sustainable palm oil production certificates by factoring in deforestation and ecosystem protection

First Eagle opts to liquidate listed US loan fund
First Eagle Alternative Credit is in the process of liquidating its publicly listed, closed-ended credit fund, First Eagle Senior Loan Fund

BlueBay hires Germany/Austria institutional sales official in new role
BlueBay Asset Management has tapped a former bfinance official as head of institutional sales Germany and Austria, a newly created job

"Technology won’t replace human judgement. In ESG a qualitative review is necessary"
The social aspect of ESG must be given sufficient weight in investment decisions  

Tech firm tempts credit investors with supply chain finance offer
Novicap, a fintech company focused on invoice financing, is looking to debt capital market participants — such as credit and structured credit funds, asset managers, pension companies and insurers — as it seeks to raise third-party funding for its credit platform

Credit markets heed early indicators of inflation pressure
Inflation became the topic du jour after the consumer price index (CPI) grew 4.2% in April, its fastest rate since September 2008 and much higher than the 3.6% many analysts predicted