The high yield debt market has grown rapidly since its early "junk bond" days with over $2.5 trillion of high yield debt now outstanding. From 1992 to 2014, high yield bonds produced high single-digit annual average returns with lower volatility than the S&P 500 and only three down years.

Despite this stellar performance the market remains mostly misunderstood and is often ignored or dismissed by investors.

High Yield Debt, written by Rajay Bagaria, an expert practitioner, is a succinct guide to today's high yield market. The book starts with an entertaining history of the market, from the heady days of junk bonds to its maturation into a more traded and institutional market. After establishing a clear demarcation between high yield bonds and leveraged loans, the two key market segments, the author identifies the various sub-classes of each along with their advantages and disadvantages. Both risk and opportunity are discussed in non-ambiguous detail, supported by historical performance data. The book concludes with an overview of the pros and cons of various investments funds that provide high yield exposure.

Throughout the book the author shares the key insights and experience gained by serving on pioneering and innovative teams that drove growth at top investment firms.

This valuable guide includes:

• Information on asset class performance, including total returns, volatility, interest rate risk, defaults and recovery figures.
• Tools and metrics for assessing market opportunity, including techniques for determining the risk-reward ratios for both leveraged loans and high yield bonds.
• Information on "public" mutual as well as closed-end funds, ETFs, BDCs and also "private" mezzanine, credit hedge and distressed funds.

The strength of the book is its readability. The author explains industry jargon and legal concepts in a way that is understandable to any market participant seeking a comprehensive and lucid guide to the broader high yield industry.

This book will be an indispensable resource to all investors and asset managers, as well as to professionals who play an important role in servicing this thriving marketplace: investment bankers, lawyers, accountants, analysts, rating agencies, and regulators.

High Yield Debt: An Insider's Guide to the Marketplace will help you appreciate the opportunities with high yield debt across the credit cycle.