UK Volume 21

uk.superbrands.com Superbrands UK Annual Vol.21 Fitch Group is a global leader in financial information services with operations in more than 30 countries . Dual headquartered in London and New York , and wholly owned by Hearst Corporation, it is comprised of Fitch Ratings, Fitch Solutions, Fitch Learning and Fitch Ventures Market Credit ratings provide a forward-looking and relative assessment of credit risk – namely, how likely is it that investors will be repaid in- full and on-time. Credit risk is one of the most important considerations when investing in a bond, although it is only one of many factors that should inform an investment decision. Understanding credit risk is not easy, and it’s a challenge exacerbated by the enormity and complexity of the bond market. Fitch Ratings helps make sense of this complexity with ratings based on a simple letter scale. AAA is the highest rating, indicating the least credit risk, and D is the lowest rating. Its rigorous analysis and deep expertise have resulted in a variety of market leading tools, methodologies, indices, research and analytical products, which have helped investors manage risk and funds over a century of growth. Product Fitch Group has a globally prominent team of analysts who are experts in credit and risk. The group comprises four businesses: Fitch Ratings is a global leader in credit ratings and research. Its analysts cover 5,000 financial institutions, 2,850 corporates and 160 sovereigns and supranationals. Fitch Solutions helps clients excel at managing their credit risk, offer deep insight into the debt investment market, and provide comprehensive intelligence about the macroeconomic environment. Fitch Learning is a preeminent training and professional development firm which educates 26,000 finance professionals in banking, credit, risk, wealth management and apprenticeships every year. Finally, Fitch Ventures is a strategic venture investment vehicle. Achievements Fitch is recognised as a market leader, with recent accolades including Fitch Ratings being named, for a second consecutive year, as the most transparent Credit Rating Agency for ESG. In 2020, Fitch Group received an impressive 94 FocusEconomics Awards and Fitch Solutions was named best Counterparty Data Provider by Waters Technology. Fitch also won the China Ratings Agency Award for a third consecutive year and Fitch Learning achieved the top Ofsted grade for its UK Apprenticeship Programmes. Recent Developments For 20 years, Fitch Group has been growing internationally, hand in hand with the growth of the financial markets around the world. The latest chapter in this story is in China, where in May 2020, Fitch Ratings announced that Fitch Bohua had received approval from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) to rate financial institutions (including banks, non-bank financial institutions and insurers) and their securities as well as structured finance bonds in China’s interbank market. Fitch Bohua is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fitch Ratings and provides forward-looking ratings, in-depth research, valuable data tools and insightful commentary for investors and other participants in the local Chinese bond market. Fitch is committed to its corporate social responsibility goals. It has launched many employee-led networks including Fitch Pride Network, Fitch Women’s Network, Fitch BALANCE, Fitch BAME Network and Fitch Green Wave, all aimed at increasing representation and affecting change. In 2019, Fitch launched the ‘us.u.all’ training programme which is designed for managers to explore diversity and inclusion. In 2018, Fitch Group became a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and the UNPRIs initiative on credit ratings and risk. Fitch launched an integrated scoring system that shows how ESG factors impact individual credit rating decisions. Fitch is the only CRA that currently offers this level of granularity or transparency about the impact of ESG on fundamental credit, maintaining more than 140,000 ESG scores on more than 10,000 entities, transactions and debt programmes. As a result of Fitch’s growth and acquisitions, it now has more than 4,000 employees, including in excess of 1,600 analysts, in more than 40 offices and affiliates worldwide. Promotion Fitch’s brand is inextricably linked with its people and its thought leadership. It maintains an active presence in a wide variety of global media, In 1924 Fitch developed and introduced what has since become the most common letter-grade scoring system for credit-worthiness DID YOU KNOW?

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