Recovery Values Not What They Seemed

While the standard perception of recovery rates on fixed-income instruments after a company default is 40%, figures show recoveries are actually around half that amount, in line with other economic crises. According to Edward Altman, finance professor at New York University, recoveries were 12% in 1981 and nearly 20% in 1990 and 2002, but this year the average is 15% so far.