The widely expected summer slowdown in CLO issuance is proving less severe than many participants feared.

After CLO issuance averaged $3 billion a month in the first half of the year, managers printed $1.8 billion of new vehicles in July and another $1.9 billion during the first half of August, when ING Asset Management, Halcyon, Symphony, American Capital Strategies, Highbridge, Franklin Advisers, and TICC Capital put deals on the board. That brings year-to-date volume to $22 billion, which is the highest annual figure since 2007. For reference, $12.3 billion of deals printed in all of 2011.

Looking ahead, indicators point to potential strong volume in the next months, with signs looking positive for CLOs to finish the year strong and push to the wide end of strategist expectations of $20-30 billion.