A Pragmatist's Guide to Leveraged Finance: Credit Analysis for Bonds and Bank Debt 1st Edition

I am a senior analyst in a buy-side leveraged finance shop and believe the book does a great job of outlining the process of credit analysis and bond assessment for the junior analyst. I read the book to see whether it made sense as a training tool for our new junior analysts and I believe strongly that it does. In addition, while I didn't think I was the target market, I found the book to be an interesting read and a worthwhile look into the mental systems used by a long-time analyst. I definitely took away a few ideas on how I might alter my own procedures for the better. Mr Kricheff lays out the nuts and bolts of who the players are in the market, then moves on to the issuance of a new piece of debt and shows the new analyst what pieces of information are important to look for and even how to prioritize between different pieces of information. The book lays out the basics of what a bond is, how they are priced and how to analyze the structure of the security. He looks at how to analyze the underlying company. He covers what he thinks are the two first items to consider (liquidity and asset coverage) and then moves on to discuss which financial measures are important and why; what are the important covenants and how can one use them. How much modeling do you need to do, how can you begin the process and how in-depth should a model realistically be? How can you use your model to adapt to changing newsflow or market pricing? What are some other pieces of information used by an analyst to decide between competing investment choices? These are all of the types of things covered in the book. The book does not target the senior analyst, but if one were interested in reading about another analyst's process, you could find the book interesting. For the new junior analyst, I think the book could accelerate the learning process significantly and give the new analyst a significant leg up in starting his/her career.

You can't do better than Mr. Kricheff's book if you want to prepare for a career in leveraged finance. You will find it's a refreshing departure from purely abstract financial theory and that it provides you with some truly pragmatic tools for excelling in finance. It is also a great desk reference for those already working in the business.There is no substitute for actual work experience, not matter what field you are in. In his book, Mr. Kricheff deftly compiles and delivers to you what he has learned over his long and successful career in leveraged finance. He blends academic theory with practical real world examples across a breadth of situations -- from pricing risk on steady high quality credits to distressed restructuring scenarios. He's done it all and does an excellent job making complex concepts easy to understand for beginners, yet comprehensive enough to appeal to professionals.

Robert Kricheff gets down to the nuts and bolts of effective credit analysis. I have read other leveraged finance books that have been twice as long, but half as pragmatic. I high lighted plenty of good advice that I will reference in the future. Well worth the read.

I think the title sums up the book perfectly. As someone who works in the credit world but is also working to develop a credit research skill set, I can say that this book connects the dots between theoretical studies and real world application. The book walks the reader through the process of taking financial statements as they are provided by a company and then extrapolating the data necessary to derive key metrics that are used in the marketplace today to value debt securities. The author combines fundamental research with real world scenarios to give the reader an excellent insight into how and why deals are being done. All in all a very enjoyable and informational read.

The book is a great overview of the modern theory of Leveraged Finance. It's very general and easy to read. It's reasonably short. If your goal is to get familiarize with LF, this is the book to start with. ​

Was a nice quick and dirty into leverage finance - I think the price should be about $20 though. If you can find this book used for cheaper that would probably be your best option.

Easy to read, written in a way that is less about academics and financial formulas, and more about what happens in the daily grind of the market.

Good book for who's starting in the high yield market, althought introductory it covers a fair amount of topics and tools used

Book arrived in good condition. This was recommended to me by a professional who works in high yield investing. I would recommend. Not too overwhelming, I think it’s good for people who want to learn the basics!

If you have to read only one book on the subject , this is the one.

A very worthwhile helpful quick book about leverage finance and what are the most important factora to take into account when analysing leverage transactions, non only from a financial perspective but also from covenants, structure, debt seniority, with exercises at the end of each paragraph, basically. Fully suggested!

The book does not discuss advanced analytics etc., but is based on ratio analysis and subjective analysis. Some caveats are there which can be useful for people in market. Overall a simple book to read, but one would need some other text on analytics and similar modern techniques to complement this book.

I have found this book very disappointing - especially for the price offered. The book is repititive (not sure who the addressed reader were) and missing qualitative aspects of credit analysis. It gets here and there more technical with satisfying examples, however, again do not expect this to be very detailed. It should be understood that leveraged finance and its credit decisions are not only based on the firm's financials and ratios but equally depend upon qualitative aspects, e.g. sustainability of cash flows, market trend, competitiveness and so on - which is covered at no depth.This book might be good for readers who don't have basic knowledge of corporate finance/debt and the questions at the end of each topic are good to test your understanding. However, this book will not be sufficient if you want to understand credit analysis and I highly recommend you get the S&P credit analysis book for this: "Fundamentals of Corporate Credit Analysis" which covers also qualitative aspects e.g. macro, micro, business risk and the result in the business' financial risk.