Despite another year of first-half headaches—with macro, geopolitical, and sector-specific headwinds replacing 2025’s tariff-driven disruptions—2026’s leveraged finance market remained resilient, ending on a solid second quarter of issuance and a shift to more normalized conditions. The remainder of the year is primed to be a balancing act between renewed volatility and significant demand from lenders to deploy capital amid optimism for a more meaningful pickup in M&A activity. Learn more about performance and trends shaping the leveraged finance market in our latest report.
William Blair Leveraged Lending Index
Each quarter we ask middle-market lenders to rate overall conditions in the leveraged finance market on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most borrower-friendly conceivable.
