Junk bond default rate
Money › Bonds › Bonds Types › Corporate Bonds High-Yield Bonds. High-yield bonds, often called junk bonds, pay a higher interest rate than investment-grade bonds, reflecting their lower credit rating and their greater risk of default. The yield spread above risk-free Treasuries is the risk premium to compensate investors for the increased risk of default. Bond default risks are very real. Corporate bonds can and do default. The probability of a bond default is strongly reflected in the credit rating assigned to the bond by the rating agencies. Non-investment grade bonds – the less scary name for high-yield or junk bonds – have seen pretty high default rates in the past.