1) Merrill is the largest investor in high-yield bonds in the world.

2) Soviero has been the manager of high-yield bond accounts for institutional clients since 1994.

3) Developed-market and high-yield bond funds, meantime, saw their biggest outflows ever recorded by EPFR.

4) The high-yield bond market therefore remains underpinned by improving fundamentals, as well as the ongoing search for yield and rapidly declining default rates.

5) Clients have reacted accordingly: EPFR Global says that $14.9 billion was withdrawn from high-yield bond funds in the third quarter.

6) The suffering won't be confined to the professionals or the wealthy. Ordinary investors who have money in corporate or high-yield bond mutual funds will feel the pain.

7) The returns registered well below the 75% increase in Credit Suisse shares over the same period, and the 30% uptick in the benchmark Merrill Lynch high-yield bond index.