.jpg)
Weekly Market Summary
July 20 to July 24, 2026
Extra Credit*
- Leveraged loan issuers lean in to amend-and-extend deals to push back maturities. Amend-and-extend volume rose to $27 billion in June, up from $26 billion in May, according to Pitchbook LCD. Activity was spread across 24 transactions, compared with 21 in the prior month. Year-to-date A&E real estate finance volume has now reached $106 billion, well ahead of the roughly $84 billion recorded during the first half of 2025. The acceleration follows an already active 2025, which was the second-busiest year on record for amend-and-extend transactions, trailing only 2024.
- Although borrowers still face pressure to address near-term maturities, the companies receiving additional runway are generally not imminent default candidates. In 2026, 30% of amend-and-extend transactions involved issuers rated BB-minus or higher, up from 11% in 2025 and 26% in 2024. Meanwhile, the share involving B-minus borrowers fell to 27%, from 44% last year and 32% in 2024. B/B-plus credits now account for 39% of activity, up from 33% in 2025 and 28% in 2024, pointing to a meaningful shift toward stronger-quality issuers.
- Sponsored borrowers continue to dominate institutional amend-and-extend activity in 2026, accounting for $43 billion of the $55 billion completed year to date. Non-sponsored borrowers have contributed the remaining $12 billion. The sponsored share of roughly 78% is broadly consistent with the 79% recorded for full-year 2025, extending a multiyear pattern of sponsor-backed dominance in the institutional market.
- Source: Pitchbook as of 7/22/2026. A&E stands for architecture and engineering; A&E real estate finance specializes in customized commercial mortgage financing solutions for experienced and qualified real estate investors and operators.
Previous reports
*Source: Morningstar®, Bloomberg, Credit Suisse. OAS is Options Adjusted Spread. 4-year discount margin is used for spread for bank loans. Yield quoted is yield-to-worst or equivalent calculation. YTD Low / High for yields are based on end of week and not intraday movements. Indexes and sub-indexes: Investment-grade corporates represented by Bloomberg US Corporate Bond Index. High-yield bonds represented by Bloomberg US Corporate High Yield Index. Bank loans represented by Morningstar LSTA US leveraged Loan Index. The red and green arrows depicted under Yields, Option Adjusted Spreads, and Prices indicate a higher or lower value from the previous week.
Past performance does not guarantee future results. Index performance is not indicative of fund performance. Indexes are unmanaged and it is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Any discussion of individual companies is not intended as recommendation to buy, hold or sell securities issued by those companies. Aristotle Fund holdings can be found on the fund pages linked above.
Investors should consider a fund’s investment goal, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus and/or the applicable summary prospectus contain this and other information about the Fund and are available from AristotleFunds.com. The prospectus and/or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.
Foreside Financial Services, LLC, distributor.