IT infrastructure influences credit ratings, say agencies

NEW YORK - Credit rating agencies, including Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody’s Investor Services and Fitch Ratings, are now more frequently assessing buy-side technology in terms of supporting operations and, in some instances, sources of operational risk.

However, IT infrastructure issues do not have a direct bearing on their evaluation and grading of buy-side firms, say agencies.

Jonathan Ukeiley, credit analyst at S&P in New York, says while technology factors themselves do not have a direct impact on an asset manager’s rating, the agency does consider how a firm’s IT affects its business. "Technology would be part of our criteria for analysing almost any financial institution," he says. "With asset managers, however, we’ve seen many of the