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Edinburgh, Scotland-based Aegon Asset Management will extend duration in the European portion of its £500 million global bond portfolio, roughly £150 million, once 10-year bunds reach 51/4%. Roberto Carulli, fund manager, says he is betting on a yield flattening on the zero- to three-year portion of the curve and is underweight there in favor of the three- to five-year portion. He believes the European Central Bank will raise rates by 40-50 basis points by year-end, as the economy begins to recover. If yields on 10-year benchmark bunds reach 4.80%, Carulli says he may put on some opportunistic short trades. Alternatively, if bunds drop to 4.50%, he will take that opportunity to go shorter. Last Wednesday, 10-year bunds were yielding 4.94%. For the European portion of the fund, Aegon uses the Salomon Brothers European government bond index.

The editorial staff of LMW used to have a view of the daunting "666" atop the building that bears the famous address on Fifth Avenue. Over the last couple of weeks, the staff watched each red "6" come down to be replaced with the Citigroup's ubiquitous Citi logo. The switch is the latest in a new trend in real estate to brand buildings. A spokeswoman for Citi said, "The opportunity came up to put signage there." Maybe a "Top of the Citi" will open soon.

Pat Moon, portfolio manager with Meridian Management, is rotating 10% of the firm's portfolio, or $12 million, from Treasuries into corporate bonds on the view that corporate spreads are back to their pre-November spread levels. Moon reasons that even if corporate spreads remain fairly wide, due to accounting fears, the pick-up in income on the coupon is significant enough to warrant the move. But, with recent positive economic news and inventories at their lowest levels since the early eighties, Moon anticipates corporate spreads will tighten and Treasuries will drop in price.

This chart, provided by Citibank/Salomon Smith Barney Inc., tracks bid-ask prices for par credit facilities that trade in the secondary market last week. It also tracks facility amounts, ratings, pricing and maturities.

Missouri Valley Partners will extend its duration to neutral against its index if the recovery shows further signs of faltering. Steven Jones, portfolio manager of $175 million, says that if the S&P 500 index falls below 1000, he would consider bringing duration to a neutral position versus its benchmark, the Lehman Brothers aggregate index. Last Tuesday, the S&P 500 was at 1083. At 4.26 years as of last Tuesday, Missouri Valley Partners was 5% short the 4.49-years of its bogey. Other indications Jones would consider before adding duration are continued weakness in the economies of Europe and Japan, and flat consumer spending after inventories are replaced. In making these determinations, he will rely largely on the view of Ed Hyman, economist at ISI Group. To add duration, Missouri Valley would buy 10- to 30-year Treasuries and sell Treasury bonds of shorter duration.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board is seeking a $600 million credit facility to fund its $1.6 billion real estate portfolio. "We are looking for a $600 million unsecured facility that we will draw down over the next 12 to 18 months," said George Wilson, senior investment officer at the fund, regarding its plans. Wilson explained that the pension fund is looking to lever up its purchasing plans in the real estate market while it can benefit from low borrowing costs. The board has been in discussions with different lenders, declining to name specific candidates.

Tom Currie has left his post as director of new assets with Standard & Poor's to join XL Financial Assurance, the Bermuda-based financial guarantor, as chief underwriting officer. The position had been open since last year, when Jim McNichols was promoted to chief financial officer. XL Financial Assurance is a re-insurer and an affiliated company of XL Capital Assurance, a triple-A rated monoline financial guarantor. Both companies are subsidiaries of XL Capital Ltd. based in Bermuda. Currie did not return calls. Roger Scotton, director of communications with XL Financial Assurance, says Currie reports directly to McNichols and that his new function consists of overseeing the underwriting process of financial guaranteed asset-backed securities. Currie joined earlier this month.

Wachovia Securities last Friday launched syndication of the $180 million credit for Right Management Consultants, backing the company's acquisition of U.K.-based Coutts Consulting Group and refinancing existing debt. RMC specializes in career transition and organizational consulting and is buying CCG for approximately $108 million. The bank debt is split between a $90 million revolver and $90 million term loan "A" and is priced at LIBOR plus 21/ 4%. Fleet Bank, UBS Warburg and SunTrust Bank have signed on already said one banker. Lee Bohs, executive v.p., corporate development, did not return calls. A Wachovia spokeswoman declined comment.

TrizecHahn USA tapped its relationship banks for a best-efforts deal to secure a $350 million, three-year revolver instead of seeking a fully underwritten facility. The company saves by not paying a bank to underwrite the deal, said Jeffrey Echt, senior v.p. of finance and treasurer of TrizecHahn Office Properties, a subsidiary of the parent. He declined to comment on the amount saved.

Deutsche Bank's $350 million loan backing the exit financing for AMF Bowling Worldwide, launched into the market two weeks ago, has been given a B1 rating by Moody's Investors Service, reflecting the significant reduction in leverage afforded by its reorganization plan. Approximately $1.2 billion of debt is being replaced with $450 million of funded debt, including $300 million of the bank debt and $150 million of notes due 2008 [assigned a B3 rating]. "Essentially hundreds of millions of debt has been forgiven," said Russell Gorman, v.p. senior analyst at Moody's.