# Professor Emeritus Edward Altman's research on high yield bond defaults is referenced

1 Faculty News May 18, 2016 ![Barron's logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_031072.jpg?itok=FtY-yu99)>

Excerpt from [Barron's](http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2016/05/18/high-yield-recovery-rates-fall-alarming-junk-investors/) -- "...this year, the recovery rate in high yield bonds has been extremely low — just 13.9%, reports Marty Fridson, chief investment officer at Lehmann Livian Fridson Advisors, in a Tuesday report published Wednesday on S&P Capital IQ LCD. This continues a trend that started last year. Drawing on academic research, primarily done by [Edward Altman](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/edward-altman) of New York University Stern School, Fridson reports that the junk bond default rate was 2.83% in 2015, lower than the long-term mean of 3.33%. Normally, the recovery rate is higher when defaults are low. But in 2015, the recovery rate was just 34%, far below its historical average of 46%."

[Read more](http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinvesting/2016/05/18/high-yield-recovery-rates-fall-alarming-junk-investors/)