We analyse a survey of 200 plan sponsors and investment managers in the US and Europe regarding the use of credit rating guidelines in the conduct of their investment activities. We find that ratings-based guidelines are widespread, but their forms and motivations vary considerably. The usage of...

Rating agency default studies provide estimates of mean default rates over multiple time horizons but have never included estimates of the standard errors of the estimates. This is due at least in part to the challenge of accounting for the high degree of correlation induced by their...