Because of the rating agencies’ power in the financial markets and the minimal amount of time most issuers spend on managing the ratings process, corporations and other issuers tend to be at a natural disadvantage vis-à-vis the agencies.

With the never-ending competition for funds and attention to the bottom line, corporations need to be particularly attentive to their borrowing costs. This means achieving as high a rating as possible. Optimal ratings are a result of proper preparation, a proactive stance vis-à-vis the rating agencies, and staying on top of ratings developments. To do this effectively requires the assistance of external expertise.

That’s where GIA comes in!

GIA Services For Corporations

• Understanding the Rating Process
  • Rating agency objectives and motives: They differ uniquely from yours
  • Rating agency concerns: How to identify and address them
  • Quantitative analysis: Key credit quality measurements and ratios
  • Qualitative analysis: Assessing an issuer’s business risk profile, e.g., cyclical industries
• Preparing for an Agency Visit
  • Setting the agenda and designing the presentation—what the agencies really need
  • Questions the agencies will likely ask you—and the best answers
  • Developing counter-arguments to their negative views
  • The constraints to an upgrade—and how to overcome them
  • Strategies and tactics in agency meetings, with rehearsals as needed
• Guidance on Financial Issues that Affect Ratings
  • Debt capacity and its relationship to the various rating categories
  • How the agencies treat off-balance sheet financing and assess novel financial instruments
  • How to keep a stock repurchase program below the agencies’ radar screens
  • Special liquidity issues when a short-term rating is involved
• Evaluating Portfolio and/or Business Strategies
  • Acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs: What are the rating implications?
  • Maximizing shareholders values: What does (and does not) trigger the agencies’ alarm systems
• Developing and Maintaining a Constructive Relationship with the Agencies
  • The five steps to issuer credibility—the foundation of a constructive relationship
  • Between-meeting communications
  • The dozen Do’s and Dont’s of agency relations