The S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan index returned 2.13% in the first quarter – its highest return since the third quarter of 2012 when the index gained 3.41%.
The first-quarter return was 53 basis points higher than the entire return last year. In 2014, the index posted two consecutive quarterly losses in the second half. It was the first time that had happened since 2008.
Since its inception in 1996, the index has posted an annualized return of 5.4%, with an annualized standard deviation of 6.1%.
