Playing the bank loans space The actual bank loans themselves are made by lending institutions to companies. These loans aren't accessible to individual investors who want to make a play for yield. Rather, large institutional investors snap them up and add them to their fixed income portfolios. The loans generally have credit ratings that are below investment grade, meaning that they are rated BB+ and below by Standard & Poor's. Further, these loans are usually senior secured debt, meaning that they are backed by the borrower's assets.