The Evolving Credit Rating Agency Arena

This is a follow-up to a report Outsell published in February 2011, The Credit & Financial Information Landscape, which lays out the hierarchy and subsegments of the Credit & Financial Information segment. Here we are providing a deeper analysis of the credit rating agencies (CRA) subsegment. This report examines the current competitive positioning of the leaders and identifies potential disruptions to their stronghold. It highlights budding yet real threats to incumbents, examines firms vying for investors’ surveillance ratings budgetary dollars, and touches on legal and regulatory changes as they relate to shifting sands within this space. This report includes:
- Sorting of credit rating agencies into four categories: the Big Three CRAs, small and medium CRAs, local CRAs, and independent credit research providers ;
- Key players in each of those categories;
- Market size and share of major players and key trends in each category;
- Implications for other players in the market;
- Outsell’s leaderboard of companies positioned to lead in the market.