Monarch raises USD 4.7bn for 6th credit opportunity fund
Monarch Capital Partners VI follows a “distress for control” strategy with a focus on corporate credit in North America and Europe

Connecticut pension allocates USD 300m to Oaktree’s distressed credit fundraising
Connecticut pension system commits to Oaktree latest flagship distressed credit fund

European manager has first close of EUR 300m credit opportunities fund
European credit hedge fund Ironshield Capital Management has revealed the first close of a EUR 300m capacity distressed fund

Fund performance
Positive August for credit sees CLO funds on top again

CLO funds are hot in summer as they take nine spots in top 10 (Fund performance)
CLO funds took the lead through summer as the returns of the category index reached 1.88% and 3.18% in June and July, respectively. Both months saw a CLO fund as the top performer — Sound Point Meridian in June, and Oxford Gate Master Fund in July.

Fund performance
Good month for CLO funds sees six in top 10 as Axiom sets pace

LP round up: opportunistic credit dominates as investors allocate $2.2 billion
US institutional investors invested at least $2.2 billion to credit funds in March, according to documents seen by Creditflux, with opportunistic credit funds dominating commitments

Ironshield prepares for distressed opportunities with closed-end fund launch
Ironshield Capital has unveiled a closed-end fund which invests in private credit and illiquid public credit.

BC Credit targets $1.25 billion for third opportunistic credit fund
BC Partners Credit plans to deploy half the fund in private lending and structured equity opportunities and the other half in specialty lending and dislocated liquid credit deals

Beneath the triple C: Life could be better, but it’s just a letter, under the CCC
Many market participants were eagerly looking forward to a break in December after a gruelling year, but the rating agencies were in no mood to oblige. 

Italian NPLs under spotlight as debt collector spreads blow wider
Intrum, the Swedish debt collection firm, is suffering a sharp push wider in credit spreads after writing down part of a portfolio focused on the Italian market

Egypt works its Sharm on credit markets
Egypt looks to be reaping the benefits of hosting the Cop 27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheik, with the country’s credit spreads on a sharp rally this week

Beneath the triple C: Stormy October hits CLOs with rising tide of downgrades
After a slight respite in the pace of downgrades over the summer for CLOs, October brought renewed momentum as macro-economic pressures - primarily high interest rate burdens for corporate borrowers and supply side inflation - became the recurring rationale

LP round up: two managers terminated as 20 win $2.5 billion
US institutional investors allocated over $2.5 billion to 20 credit managers in October, according to documents seen by Creditflux. Two credit fund managers however were terminated in the month

Chicken company rallies sharply against widening market as revenues find their wings
European retail related credit is in focus on Thursday, with Boparan among the market’s big outperformers following latest earnings results

Pimco targets up to $5 billion for flexible credit fund
The fund will invest across capital solutions, distressed and stressed opportunities, and idiosyncratic positions

US and Europe divide honours between HY and IG as market rally extends
A second straight day of improvement is adding to this week’s gathering rally, but while US high yield is outperforming European the reverse is true in investment grade

LP round up: $2.7bn flows to 20 credit managers as investors battle PE overallocation
Investors faced huge headwinds in September with inflation, rising interest rates, and geopolitical turmoil, alongside the UK gilts sell-off at month end

Nomura readies multi-strat credit interval fund launch
Nomura Private Capital is readying the launch of a new, closed-ended interval fund which will invest across the credit spectrum - including bonds, loans, CLOs, distressed debt emerging market debt

Beneath the triple C: US CLOs take a dip in the triple C as Europe watches from the sun lounger
The US CLO market bore the brunt of downgrades to triple C in July and August, with a total of $6.22 billion of paper affected. European CLOs enjoyed a more relaxing summer holiday, with only 1 name representing €33.88 million worth of bonds downgraded to triple C.  

LP round up: Magnetar and Värde among winners as $3 billion flows to credit
Institutional investors allocated at least $3 billion to credit funds in August

Russia and Ukraine debt recovery outlooks diverge as DC publishes auction lists
The credit event auction to settle Russian sovereign CDS will have eight bonds deliverable, while 15 bonds have made it onto a preliminary list for Ukraine’s auction

German firm takes big hit even as most of Europe gains ground
Adler was an outlier in Thursday trading as it bucked overall market improvement following the collapse of a deal to sell shares in a subsidiary. But the Bank of England soon took the shine off credit sentiment in any case

Russia CDS auction deliverables list takes shape after sanctions licence
Russian Federation bonds cleared by Euroclear may be the only deliverable obligations to settle sovereign CDS contracts referencing the country, the Emea Determinations Committee has said, although it is also considering Clearstream listed bonds as it moves forward with preparations for a credit event auction

Beneath the triple C: ebbs and flows leave triple C levels at a temporary stasis
Following a rising tide of downgrades in May the loan market stabilised somewhat in June, with seven issuers held by CLOs downgraded to triple C and a counter-swell of five names upgraded to single B.