Fund Managers

BlackRock closes credit opps fund at $2bn

The fund will look at special situations and opportunistic credit to help investors generate returns through the credit cycle.

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BlackRock has held a final close of its Global Credit Opportunities fund at $2 billion.

The vehicle, which will invest in corporate credit across geographies and industries, is aiming to create value for investors through the credit cycle.

BlackRock said it will target less liquid opportunistic, stressed and special situations investments to generate growth and income for clients.

Blackrock’s global co-head of credit, Tim O’Hara, said: “Building out our opportunistic credit strategy to take advantage of secular trends and cyclical dislocations in the credit markets is a natural evolution of our platform as we continue to bolster a credit business that can deliver for clients across risk spectrums and market cycles.”

The GCO fund will be managed by a dedicated investment team led by David Trucano and will benefit from access to BlackRock’s global credit platform and sourcing capabilities.

Jim Keenan, chief investment officer and global co-head of credit at BlackRock, said: “The interest we’ve seen from investors around the world is a testament to the attractive value proposition that the fund offers and its mandate to deliver the value and diversification that our clients need no matter where we are in the credit cycle.”

A recent BlackRock survey found 56 percent of global institutional investors are planning to increase allocations to private credit as they look for higher yielding alternatives to traditional fixed income.

The fund will offer its investors the ability to co-invest on select deals.

BlackRock is the latest player to successfully raise a multibillion-dollar fund focused on targeting distressed or special situations investments. The PDI H1 2019 Fundraising Report found the strategy was the most successful for fundraising so far this year and five of the ten biggest funds raised have been special situations or distressed vehicles.

The fundraising brings BlackRock’s credit platform assets to $100 billion in total and the firm said it has raised more than $5 billion in new client commitments for private credit strategies over the last two years.