Record $394 Billion of US Leveraged-Loan Launches This Quarter

The US leveraged-loan market has set a quarterly record for launches, part of a surge of debt issuance by lower-rated firms as borrowing costs have fallen and investor demand for higher-yielding securities has been strong.

With more than $13 billion of deals hitting the market on Monday, the third quarter’s launch total has reached $394 billion. Both July and August set records for those periods, with the former being the busiest month ever in a data series compiled by Bloomberg that goes back to 2013. At $119 billion, September’s total is $10 billion short of the record set last year. ...