A Pragmatist’s Guide to Leveraged Finance: Credit Analysis for Bonds and Bank Debt

26. Closing Comments

When I was a teenager and wanted to get my pilot’s license, my father bought a small poster for my room. It was a black-and-white photo of a biplane crashed into a tree, with a mangled pilot hanging upside down from the cockpit. The caption read, “Flying is not inherently more dangerous than any other means of transportation. It is just less forgiving.” This statement also could describe investing in the leveraged finance market relative to other securities markets.

The market is a valuable financing tool for a diverse universe of corporations around the globe. It has a history of constantly evolving and developing creative ways to meet the needs of these corporations. For these reasons, credit analysts need to try to stay ...