Junk Bonds on a Roll
One of our readers asked for help deciphering what was going on in the high-yield market. So we recruited Matt Fuller from our content partner, LevFin Insights.
“From the perspective of high-yield investors,” Matt told us, “it’s a great time to be involved. We were pretty much shut down in March.
Total volume was only $4 billion, which is very paltry. Zero deals for three weeks. That’s shocking, but one week shorter than December 2018, which marked the lowest volume since the GFC.
“Then in April it came roaring back from $4 billion to $44 billion. That was the most activity since March 2017…
▶︎ Read May 18 2020 newsletter: here
▶︎ Chart of the Week: here (Source: LevFin Insights)
Latest news
PE exit activity
Exit value fell to $102.6 billion in the second quarter—down 46.3% from the prior quarter and 7.4% YoY—while exit count dropped to 353, a 14.1% quarterly decline and a 5.4% rise against Q2 2025.
US BSL and MM CLO Performance Held Stable in July 2026
In July 2026, portfolio credit quality in reinvesting Fitch-rated U.S. BSL CLOs remained broadly stable from June. Net portfolio losses held at 0.5%. The Fitch weighted average rating factor also held at 23.1. The Fitch weighted average recovery rate declined slightly by 0.1%, while the weighted average spread fell by 0.01%.
