Junk-Rated Borrowers Reap Rewards in a World of Negative Yields

Investors are loading up on junk as they seek shelter from negative yields.

Buyers put in orders of $4.5 billion for a $375 million bond sold this week by Valvoline Inc., allowing the oil-change store operator to lower the yield on the offering by as much as 0.5 percentage point. That locked in the lowest rate for a junk-rated borrower in more than a month. Mutual funds that buy speculative-grade notes received $4.35 billion of deposits this week, the biggest inflow in more than four months.