Global Investment Advisors, Credit Rating Consulting

Global Investment Advisors, Inc. (GIA) is a U.S.-based capital markets advisory firm. GIA offers private advice to borrowers and other participants in the capital markets regarding the rating agencies and the credit rating process. GIA helps issuers optimize their ratings by explaining the agencies' procedures and decision criteria and by showing clients specifically how to manage and improve relations with the agencies. The objective is an optimal rating-the best one possible given each issuer's circumstances.

GIA has a proven record on six continents of helping clients:

Achieve upgrades and avoid downgrades
Acquire a first-time credit rating
Understand agency criteria, methods and biases
Prepare for annual due diligence meetings
Manage their agency relations
Determine if a local credit bureau is feasible

GIA's Advisory Service is:

Unique - No one else offers this kind of inside advice or has the credentials of GIA staff
Independent - We have no underwriting affiliation
Cost-effective - Our fee is a fraction of potential incremental borrowing costs
Immediate - We can be on the next airplane to meet with you at your convenience

Learn about our new partner in the Republic of Georgia:

GIA Approach
An issuer’s borrowing costs and even access to funds are heavily influenced by the opinions of the two most widely followed international credit rating agencies—Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s Ratings Group. A rating downgrade of only one notch by these influential intermediaries can add from 10 to 50 basis points annually to a borrower’s interest costs in the capital markets, as investors demand a premium for the perceived additional risk of lending. That means an extra US$100,000 to US$500,000 per year for each US$100 million borrowed! It behooves management to maintain the highest possible rating so they enjoy the lowest possible interest cost.

Perceptions Count
A crucial ingredient in the rating decision is the agency’s perception of the quality of management in the borrowing institution. The agencies gain important impressions through their periodic meetings and correspondence with issuers. Issuers must perform well in the meetings and in all aspects of the agency relationship in order to secure the credit rating and the respect they merit.

Without outside expert assistance, it could take years of trial and error to learn how best to manage the relationship with the rating agencies. What is needed is an independent source to guide borrowers through the rating process, to cut through the agencies’ jargon and fog, and to show how to present one’s strengths and strategies to the agencies most effectively.

Comprehensive Guidance
Before GIA there was no place to get such comprehensive guidance. The investment banks have other, often conflicting agendas when they offer "ratings advisory." GIA, however, is solely in the business of providing confidential advice to borrowers based on our decades of direct experience with the rating process. GIA knows how the rating agencies function and which factors they deem crucial.

With our counsel, borrowers can shift the well-known leverage of the rating agencies toward a more balanced playing field. Sovereigns in particular have to think not only of the internal economic and political costs of a poor or undeserved rating but also of the impact of changes in the sovereign ceiling on other domestic borrowers, such as banks and corporations. Corporate borrowers have to consider the effect of sub-optimal ratings on the cost and availability of bank credit as well.

Issuer-Specific Strategies
By sharing our special insights and by disclosing what lies behind the agencies’ questions and decisions, GIA prepares borrowers who have short-term or long-term obligations to encounter the rating agencies with confidence. GIA helps reduce issuer uncertainty, produce a more informed and polished performance in the rating meetings, and maximize the chances of a satisfactory outcome. GIA works with each client to develop an issuer-specific strategy for improving and managing the long-term relationship with the agencies.

GIA’s counsel is of value whether the borrower is a first-time entrant into the capital markets or is facing the agencies’ annual reviews. Our guidance is especially valuable if the issuer’s existing rating is on Credit Watch for either an upgrade or downgrade, or if the issuer is contemplating a major policy change or business initiative. In these cases, we tell you what the agencies’ real concerns are and what will likely prove decisive in the rating decision. What is decisive is often not what is publicly stated or conveyed to the issuer

And we guarantee confidentiality; no other issuer or financial intermediary needs to know of GIA’s relationship with you. Your proprietary information will remain secure.