Marty Fridson

April 13, 2022 @ 4:00 pm EST

Institutional Investor Magazine has called Marty Fridson the “Dean of the High Yield Bond Market.” He earned that title by pioneering serious research in what was then a controversial asset class, commonly derided as “junk bonds,” but which eventually entered the financial mainstream with his help.

Marty accomplished this as a research department head – first at Morgan Stanley, and later as a colleague of mine at Merrill Lynch. He contributed importantly to the professionalization of high yield research by applying analytical methods he had learned at Harvard Business School and in obtaining his Chartered Financial Analyst designation. 

Marty’s contributions to finance have not been limited to the study of speculative-grade bonds. In his current role as Chief Investment Officer of Lehmann Livian Fridson Advisors, he oversees investments in a wide range of income-generating securities such as preferred stocks, closed-end funds, and dividend-growth stocks. Marty publishes rigorous research on these asset classes and makes specific recommendations in his newsletter, co-published with Forbes and titled “Income Securities Investor.” His research on a variety of financial topics have appeared in various scholarly journals, as well as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Barron’s.

Marty has also won recognition as an author of six books, on topics ranging from, financial statement analysis, to the conditions that launched the stock market’s very best years, to his enduringly popular “How To Be a Billionaire.” The McClatchy newspaper chain said his 2006 book, “Unwarranted Intrusions: The Case Against Government Intervention in the Marketplace,” should be short-listed for best business book of the decade. Marty has a reputation as a book reviewer and has been performing that function for the CFA Institute over the past thirty years – as well as for Barron’s, where he has also reviewed financially themed movies.

Marty has served as a governor of the CFA Institute, as well as a consultant to the Federal Reserve Board and the New York City employees retirement system. His professional accolades include election to the Fixed Income Analysts Hall of Fame and being named Financial Executive of the Year by the Financial Management Association.