August was another strong month for the leveraged loan secondary market, as the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index returned 1.17%. With lower-rated names continuing to outperform, the index’s year-to-date return rose to 9.11%, keeping the asset class on pace for its strongest year since the Global Financial Crisis. Improving market conditions led to the busiest August for loan issuance in six years, including plenty of opportunistic activity, such as loans funding the repricings of existing loans and dividends to financial sponsors.  This analysis was written by Marina Lukatsky of Pitchbook|LCD.