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Benedicte Gravrand, Opalesque Geneva:

Brookfield Credit Opportunities Fund (BCOF) is multi-strategy credit fund that invests long and short in distressed debt, credit and equity. But credit, especially the distressed part, wasn't the highlight of the portfolio when it launched in September 2014.

"Credit was at almost an all-time high, credit spreads were only 400 basis points above treasuries," portfolio manager Angelo Rufino tells Opalesque. "Credit was not particularly attractive then. The Fund was generally neutral credit, had a healthy short book with a negative view on the commodity sector built around very asymmetric shorts in the credit space, and we had high cash balances."

Rufino manages the fund with Robert Paine, who has over 25 years of experience investing in distressed and credit securities, and worked at Advent Capital before joining Brookfield in 2014. Rufino has 13 years of experience in distressed credit and special situations, and worked at Brigade Capital Management up to 2014.

There wasn't much distressed debt to invest in at the time, though the fund was in a few process liquidations. That was until the fall of 2015, when the real downturn in the credit markets started. It began a drawdown, ultimately culminating in February with high yield spreads approaching 10%, from high single digits more than a year earlier, Rufino explains. That's when the......................

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