Has high yield finally come of age?

Andrew Lake of Aviva Investors looks at how high-yield has found its place in the market

The European High Yield market has come a long way in the last 11 years. If you look at the Merrill Lynch European High Yield Index there were 35 corporate issues of high yield debt at the beginning of January 1999 with a par amount of $5.7bn. Fast forward to November 2011 and the same index is comprised of 367 issues with a par amount of $217.788bn. While this is still small in comparison to the investment grade corporate market, the sheer growth in issuance over the last decade means high yield can now be considered a standalone asset class that most investors will have considered an a...