Investment Grade, Asset Prices and Changes in the Source of Systematic Risk

Global institutional investors face constraints, in the form of either external regulations or internal firm policies, with regard to investing in countries rated speculative grade. As a consequence, when a country receives (loses) its investment-grade status, a significant inflow (outflow) of foreign investment is likely to occur and, thus, a global portfolio should increase (diminish) in importance as a source of systematic risk for stocks traded in that country. We study how stock prices behave around such events. Our results are consistent with theory