Moody’s creates private credit analytical franchise

Moody’s has created a new analytical franchise within its rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service (MIS), that will focus on strategic insights into the growing sector of private credit.

Ana Arsov has been appointed to Global Head of Private Credit and will lead coordination of relevant research and rating initiatives across MIS and co-head the global Financial Institutions Group (FIG).

The firm said its organisational update reflected the growing importance of private credit in capital markets and a growing investor demand for research and ratings across this sector. Moody’s also said it would aim to provide transparency into the this sector which is complex and has interlinkages with broader capital markets.

MIS currently rates over $70 trillion of debt split between its four major rating groups:

• Financial Institutions, co-headed by Ana Arsov and Simon Harris
• Corporate Finance, headed by Myriam Durand
• Structured Finance, headed by Annabel Schaafsma
• Global Public, Project, and Infrastructure Finance, headed by Anne Van Praagh

“The rapid growth of the private credit market in recent years has introduced new challenges and opportunities for investors, who are looking for fresh analysis from a trusted source,” Michael West, President of Moody’s Investors Service, said.

“Ana’s deep experience with financial institutions will help establish a holistic approach to assessing private credit across a variety of sectors and asset classes.”

As part of her new role, Arsov will promote engagement across MIS rating groups, including Financial Institutions, Corporate Finance, and Structured Finance, and will deepen existing analytical capabilities for business development companies, CLOs (collateralised loan obligation), and other private credit-related assets. She will also provide appropriate support to Moody’s Analytics, which offers customer solutions related to counterparty assessment and portfolio risk.

In her capacity as co-head of FIG, Arsov will continue to engage with a broad range of financial institutions including global systemically important banks, capital markets intermediaries, and non-bank financial services companies.

Prior to today’s announcement, Arsov was the global co-head of bank ratings and held a number of senior management roles overseeing ratings for banks, securities firms, specialty finance, and more.