美国杠杆贷款指数月度总结（英）

April 1, 2026 March Wrap: Loans post first positive return of 2026, issuance remains light By: Marina Lukatsky March brought the first glimmer of stabilization in US leveraged loans since the upheaval brought about by the specter of AI disruption on Softwarecredits, but the recovery came with caveats. Secondary prices found a floor, then edged higher, and a handful of mega-sized M&A transactions testedinvestor appetite after weeks of market dislocation. But the recovery was K-shaped: higher-quality credits led the rebound while the share ofdistressed loans crept higher, repricings stalled, and spreads widened sharply. Headwinds from tariff uncertainty, AI disruption fears, anddeteriorating macro sentiment remain firmly in place — and investors are being selective about where they re-engage. March market highlights: •US leveraged loans posted their first positive monthly return of 2026 in March, adding 0.54% and trimming the year-to-date loss to 0.55% —still the worst start to a year since the Covid-driven selloff in 2020.•Single-Bs posted their first outperformance over BBs since December, shaking off two months of losses, as investors selectively re-engaged lower-rated credits.•Secondary loan prices stabilized in early March and edged higher through the month, though software loans, and the broader market alike,remain well off their January levels.•The share of loans priced at par or above rose to 28% by March 11 before declining to 14% by month-end.•Software loans surged 1.3% in March — among the month's top gainers — but remained down by nearly 6% year-to-date, with AI disruptionfears still weighing heavily on the sector.•March laggards were concentrated in tariff-sensitive cyclicals — Building Products led the decline, down 5.2%.•Repayments continued to outpace new issuance, and they increasingly reflect permanent exits via M&A and high-yield takeouts rather thanrefinancings. The Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index gained 0.54% in March, the strongest monthly return since December and its first positive month ofthe year, as secondary market prices appear to have bottomed out. Despite the rebound, year-to-date returns stand at negative 0.55% — the weakestopening stretch of any year in the past decade, except Q1 2020, when the index shed roughly 13% amid the initial Covid-19 shock. Deteriorating investor sentiment exacerbated first-quarter losses. The weighted average bid of the index peaked at 97.58 in July 2025, then entered aprolonged decline through the remainder of the year and into early 2026. By March 3, the index had fallen to 94.17 — undercutting even the 94.41 lowshortly after "Liberation Day" — before recovering modestly to 94.63 by March 31. In total, the selloff spanned roughly 340 bps from peak to trough,which was more severe than the initial Liberation Day move in both magnitude and duration. Loan prices rose four basis points in March but declined 201 bps over the entire first quarter. Performing loans mirrored the move: Excluding defaults,the average bid rose by two basis points last month, to 95.01, leaving it 206 bps below the year-end 2025 level. Software finds a floor Software loans steadied in March after a punishing slide. The average bid of non-Software performing loans edged lower in March, to 96.08, while Software ticked up, though idiosyncratic pressure — namelyAI disruption risk — continues to weigh on the sector well beyond the broader macro headwinds that hit both cohorts simultaneously. Software borrowers skew toward the lower end of the credit spectrum: 47% carry a B-minus rating, more than double the share in the broader index.Despite widespread refinancing and repricing activity over the past two years — and some easing in base rates — interest burdens remain elevated. Ifearnings weaken under AI-related pressure, the risk of downgrades will rise, further weighing on investor demand for Software loans. In March, Software loans posted their strongest monthly return since May, gaining 1.26% and trimming the year-to-date loss to 5.85%. The sector wasthe fourth-best-performing industry in the month, though the sector had a steep hole to climb out of, with cumulative losses through February atroughly 7%. From AI disruption to macro uncertainty The Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index tracks 63 industries based on the GICS III industry classification system, with over half representingless than 1% each of market share. Among industries with an index weighting above 1%, Health Care Providers & Services led March performers witha 1.49% gain, offsetting February's 0.26% loss and bringing the sector’s year-to-date return to 0.89%. Representing 5.3% of the leveraged loan market,the industry is dominated by single-B credits (85%). Insurance sector loans, which account for roughly 4% of the index, gained 1.22%, clawing back achunk of the 1.94% loss in February and outperforming the overall index. AI disruption fears spilled beyond tech in February, dragging Pro