Sector developments and company hires

NN Investment Partners (NN IP) has launched the first vintage of a customised solution to invest in trade finance through its Insured Trade Receivables Notes (ITRN) strategy. Structured as a club deal and delivered via a mutual debt vehicle (a fonds commun de titrisation), the offering was specifically designed for a group of high-profile insitutional investors in France, with initial commitments amounting to €258m.

The vehicle is managed by France Titrisation, with NN IP acting as investment advisor. Its multi-currency portfolio with a new tailor-made hedging arrangement requires no collateral to be posted, which broadens the scope of sourcing while remaining efficient in terms of returns.

The vehicle invests in short-dated notes linked to highly granular diversified portfolios of globally generated receivables. Each note is fully insured by a financial institution rated single-A minus (or higher) and targets a one-year effective maturity, with the aim of generating average gross returns of Euribor plus 2%-3% per annum on a medium-term basis.

Other international institutional investors will be able to join for the second vintage of the solution in late 2022.

In other news….

North America

Onex has announced the completion of its inaugural credit opportunities fund, raising more than US$500m in credit from existing investors and new partners. The firm hopes the Onex Structured Credit Opportunities Fund (OSCO) will generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through investment in CLOs, backed primarily by senior securities corporate loans in the secondary and primary markets.