Fitch: Leveraged loan issuance sets quarterly record

According to Fitch Ratings' U.S. Leveraged Market Quarterly - released earlier this week - U.S. leveraged loan issuance set a new quarterly record in Q1, totaling $286.6 billion. That amount was up more than 23% from the previous quarter and up 81% from the first quarter a year ago. Despite record loan issuance, primary supply could not keep pace with investor demand as investors continue to battle the low-interest-rate environment, according to the report.