Points up front: Abrdn finds text appeal
Marketing consultants have been working overtime to concoct new brand names, but their efforts have not been met with universal acclaim

Fund performance: Lightning strikes twice as range of credit funds deliver
What seemed like a chance occurrence in February has struck again in March, as seven categories make our top 10 best performing hedge funds

Credit funds at a glance (May 2021)
A round up of fundraising and people moves in credit 

Park Square collects €1.8 billion for European mezz debt fund
With leverage, Park Square expects the strategy to have €2.2 billion of investable capital

Credit fundraising: three massive European direct lending funds notch up €17.6 bn
Fundraising figures continued upwards in April as just over $24 billion was raised for credit funds, alongside $3.2 worth of allocations to credit managers. Nine funds held final closes including the largest European direct lending fund raised to date

Carlyle and Aflac officials lead new ACC committee with ESG template outlined as priority
The Alternative Credit Council has launched an ‘investor manager committee’, chaired by Carlyle Group’s Erica Frontiero and Elena Boeva from Aflac Global Investments, that has ESG in private credit as one of its first orders of business

Lafayette Square hires Prudential's head of impact investing
New York-based impact investment manager Lafayette Square has hired a new head of strategy from Prudential

Jefferies Credit poaches senior RBC pair for direct lending business
Jefferies Credit Partners has expanded its middle direct lending business with two senior hires

Capital Four hires in private debt team
Capital Four has hired a director in the private debt structuring and origination team

Investec names assistant PM on new direct lending fund
Investec has named an assistant portfolio manager for the bank’s new direct lending fund Investec's Private Debt Fund I

Ares flush with cash after raising €15 billion for European direct lending
Ares Management has raised one of the largest European direct lending funds on record and, with leverage, the fund expects to have a whopping €15 billion to deploy

Morgan Stanley flies the banner for Brigade and Maranon new CLOs
Morgan Stanley printed two new CLOs this week after scoring mandates from Brigade Capital Management and Maranon Capital

Apollo establishes $1 billion credit secondaries platform
Apollo says it formed the platform to capitalise on the explosive growth of private credit, as well as addressing related liquidity or portfolio needs from underlying investors

Standard Life Aberdeen 2 rbrnd 2 Abrdn
Standard Life Aberdeen has announced that it is changing its name to Abrdn (pronounced Aberdeen) 

Comvest amasses $1.3 billion for fifth direct lending fund
Comvest says it has provided financing to more than 35 portfolio companies

CLO banker to leave Goldman Sachs for dual CLO-direct lending role on buy side
Goldman Sachs is set to lose a member of its new issue US CLO team with market sources indicating an official with a decade's experience at the bank is joining a CLO issuer in a multifaceted role

Permira's credit CIO Kyriakoudis to retire by end of year
Permira Credit’s former chief investment officer Thomas Kyriakoudis will retire from the firm at the end of the year to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities

Head of US sales parts ways with Arcmont
Arcmont Asset Management’s head of US sales is said to have parted ways with the firm

Carlyle senior credit investor joins fintech firm as CFO
An experienced credit investment professional at the Carlyle Group has moved to become chief financial officer at fintech company NoviCap

Lord Abbett prepares special situations interval fund
Lord Abbett is preparing to launch a new special situations fund in the form of an interval fund

EIF and Alantra commit up to €110 million for Spanish SME lending
The European Investment Fund and direct lender Alantra have joined forces to provide up to €110 million financing to European small and medium sized companies

Toronto-based Whitehorse Liquidity hits $4 billion hard cap on liquidity solutions fund
Whitehorse Liquidity Partners Fund IV provides liquidity solutions to private equity-style fund investors and managers

Permira Debt Managers rebrands to Permira Credit
Permira Debt Managers has rebranded as Permira Credit 

Credit Rendezvous: ready and waiting
In Creditflux's quarterly review of credit, portfolio managers tell us that Inflation is likely to nudge higher but they are optimistic because dispersion will pick up and windows of volatility will emerge, rather than elongated phases of stress