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Compare credit ratings only after matching the thing being rated, the time horizon, the scale, and the date. An issuer rating from one agency is not automatically comparable with a bond rating from another. Read each agency’s symbols on its own scale, include modifiers and current status, then compare the agencies’ written reasoning. A rating is an opinion about relative credit risk—not a guarantee of repayment or a recommendation to buy.
What a credit rating actually describes
A credit rating is a forward-looking opinion about the relative likelihood that an issuer or a particular financial obligation will meet its credit commitments. Agencies can rate an entire organization (an issuer) or a specific debt instrument (an issue). Those are different analytical objects, so the first task is to establish exactly what each published grade covers.
Issuer ratings
An issuer-level rating gives a broad view of an entity’s overall creditworthiness. It can reflect the company’s finances, business profile, liquidity, access to funding and other obligations. It does not describe every bond’s recovery prospects or legal protections in detail. An issuer can have several classes of debt with different priorities in the capital structure, even though they share the same corporate parent.
Issue ratings
An issue-level rating applies to a specific bond, loan or other obligation. Seniority, collateral, guarantees, structural subordination, covenants and expected recovery can make one issue safer or riskier than the issuer viewed generally. Comparing an issuer rating from one agency with an issue rating from another can therefore create an apparent disagreement that is really a scope mismatch.
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Write down the legal issuer and, for an issue, the security identifier or description, maturity, ranking, collateral and guarantees shown in the agency record. A parent-company rating and a subsidiary’s secured notes are not interchangeable observations, even if the group name appears similar.
The six-step method for comparing agencies
1. Identify exactly what each rating covers
- Write down the rated entity. Record the legal issuer name, not merely a parent group or brand.
- Record the security, if it is an issue rating. Include the bond’s maturity, seniority, collateral and any guarantee shown in the rating record.
- Match scope. Compare issuer with issuer, or the same specific obligation with the same specific obligation.
If one agency rates a parent company and another rates a subsidiary’s secured notes, do not call the symbols inconsistent until you have accounted for those structural differences. If the records refer to different entities, explain that difference before discussing any apparent notch gap.
2. Match the time horizon
Agencies publish separate long-term and short-term scales. Compare long-term ratings with long-term ratings and short-term ratings with short-term ratings. A short-term grade addresses near-term repayment capacity and is not a substitute for a long-term assessment. Put the two horizons in separate worksheet sections so a short-term symbol cannot accidentally be treated as a confirmation of a long-term grade.
Also confirm whether the rating uses a global scale or a national scale. A national-scale rating ranks credit risk within a particular country; a global scale is intended for broader comparison. A symbol that looks similar across scales may not carry the same meaning, and a national ranking should not be presented as an internationally comparable grade. State the geography and scale whenever they affect the conclusion.
3. Read symbols in the issuing agency’s own scale
Letter categories are not a universal language with an exact, legally fixed conversion. Start with the definitions published by the agency that assigned the rating, and preserve the exact capitalization, punctuation and modifiers in your notes.
Moody’s uses letter categories and, from Aa through Caa, modifiers 1, 2 and 3. Modifier 1 marks the higher end of a category, 2 the middle and 3 the lower end. Thus, the modifier supplies information within the broad letter band; it is not a separate agency-neutral notch. A Moody’s Aa1 should remain Aa1 in a comparison table rather than being silently rewritten as another agency’s plus or minus grade.
S&P’s long-term categories use plus and minus gradations. S&P identifies BBB− as the lowest investment-grade rating on its long-term scale; ratings below BBB− are speculative grade on that scale. This boundary belongs to S&P’s scale. Do not extend it into an assumption that every agency uses identical definitions or thresholds.
Do not present a Moody’s modifier as if it were mathematically identical to an S&P plus or minus. A precise cross-agency conversion requires a specific, authoritative mapping for the relevant agencies, scales, categories and date. If no such mapping is available, retain the native symbols and explain the practical difference in words. A general symbol-to-symbol chart should be described as an approximation, not as a fact.
4. Align dates and current status
Record the date each rating was assigned, affirmed or reviewed. Then check the agency’s current rating record for an outlook, watch, review status or other action. Ratings are monitored and can change; an older grade may no longer represent the agency’s current view.
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For a live comparison, use a single “as of” date and show the age of each observation. If one rating was reviewed last week and another has not been updated for many months, the difference may partly reflect timing rather than analytical judgment. Preserve both the action date and the date you retrieved the record, since those dates answer different questions.
An outlook generally describes the direction an agency sees over a stated planning horizon. A watch or review indicates that a rating may be subject to a near-term action. These signals are not replacement grades. Display them beside the current symbol so a seemingly equal pair of ratings is not treated as equally stable.
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5. Compare the rationale, not just the grade
Read the published rationale behind each rating. Agencies can emphasize different factors, use different methodologies and assign different weight to the same evidence. One may focus on leverage and cash flow; another may give more attention to liquidity, industry conditions, legal structure or expected recovery.
Build a short list of the risks each agency names. Look for common concerns, such as refinancing needs or weak operating performance, and for issues mentioned by only one agency. Also note the strengths, assumptions and sensitivities each rationale identifies. The written explanation often tells you more about the source of a one-notch difference than the symbols do.
Keep the rationale tied to the agency that published it. Do not combine separate assumptions into a homemade composite score unless you clearly label that as your own analysis. S&P describes ratings as one input among several, alongside financial analysis and other research.
6. Treat the result as risk information, not an investment decision
S&P Global Ratings states that “Credit ratings do not speak to investment merits.” The statement captures the practical limit of every agency rating: it addresses credit risk, not whether a security’s price, yield, liquidity, tax treatment or fit with your objectives is attractive.
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Use a comparison worksheet instead of a single conversion chart
A worksheet makes hidden mismatches visible and creates an audit trail for a later review. Capture the following fields for every agency entry:
| Comparison axis | What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Issuer or specific issue; legal entity and security details | Different obligations can have different default and recovery risks. |
| Horizon | Long-term or short-term | The scales answer different time-horizon questions. |
| Scale | Global or national, plus the agency | National rankings are relative within a country and should not be treated as global grades. |
| Grade | The exact letter symbol, including modifier or plus/minus | Small within-category distinctions carry information on the agency’s own scale. |
| Date and status | Assignment or review date; outlook, watch or review status | A stale or conditional rating may not describe the current position. |
| Rationale | Main strengths, risks, assumptions and sensitivities | Explains why agencies may differ and what could trigger a change. |
Add a source link or record reference and the retrieval date for each row. If an agency later changes the rating, preserve the earlier row rather than overwriting it; historical context can explain why two records looked different at a particular time. Only after completing these fields should you ask whether the ratings tell a materially different story.
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How to interpret common rating differences
One-notch differences
A one-notch gap can arise from rounding within broad categories, different review dates, or a small difference in assumptions. It is not proof that one agency is right and the other is wrong. Check whether the agencies are evaluating the same scope and whether one rating carries a negative outlook or watch status.
Read the category definitions before describing the gap as economically large or small. A modifier or plus/minus can matter within an agency’s scale, but its significance cannot be stated precisely across agencies without an authoritative mapping.
Several-notch differences
A larger gap deserves a structural check before an analytical conclusion. Confirm that both records identify the same legal issuer, debt seniority, maturity and guarantee. Verify that one symbol is not from a national scale and the other from a global scale, and that long-term and short-term ratings have not been mixed.
If the objects and dates truly match, compare methodologies and rationales. A wide difference can reflect divergent views of future cash flow, governance, liquidity, industry risk, recovery or event risk. The rationale should identify the actual disagreement. If it does not, contact the agency or consult the full rating action rather than guessing at a conversion.
Outlook, watch and review signals
An outlook generally describes the direction an agency sees over a stated planning horizon; a watch or review indicates that a rating may be subject to a near-term action. These signals are not replacement grades. Display them beside the current symbol so a seemingly equal pair of ratings is not treated as equally stable.
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Category labels have to remain tied to the agency that defines them. On S&P’s long-term scale, BBB− is the bottom of the investment-grade range, and ratings below BBB− are speculative grade. Do not extend that statement into an assumption that every agency’s categories or thresholds are identical.
S&P Global Ratings reports the following historical three-year cumulative default rates:
| S&P rating category | Reported three-year cumulative default rate |
|---|---|
| BBB | 0.91% |
| BB | 4.17% |
| B | 12.41% |
| CCC/CC | 45.67% |
These figures are historical statistics reported by S&P Global Ratings; the cited explainer does not state a publication year. They are not a forecast, not a direct comparison among agencies and not a promise that a particular bond will default at the category rate. The population, observation period and definitions used by the publisher should be reviewed before using the figures for analysis. Do not attach these percentages to Moody’s, Fitch or another agency’s symbols without evidence that the categories and methodology are comparable.
Why agencies can disagree
Different methodologies
Agencies may define ratios differently, normalize financial statements in different ways or use distinct assumptions about an industry’s cycle. They can also disagree about how much weight to give management policy, sovereign conditions, liquidity or expected recovery. A different conclusion is not automatically an error; it may reflect a different analytical framework.
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Different information dates
One agency may have incorporated a new earnings release, refinancing, acquisition or regulatory event while another has not yet completed a review. Aligning the dates and status fields often resolves an apparent contradiction. Note whether a rating was affirmed without a full review or changed after new information.
Different rated instruments
Capital structures can put debt at different subsidiaries or seniority levels. A secured or guaranteed issue can receive a stronger grade than an unsecured or subordinated obligation of the same group, while a structurally junior issue can be weaker. Recovery expectations and legal protections belong in the comparison, not just the issuer name.
Different scale conventions
Global and national scales are designed for different comparisons. Treating their symbols as interchangeable can exaggerate or conceal risk differences. State the country and scale in the headline of any table or chart you publish.
A practical workflow for a new comparison
- Define the question. Decide whether you are assessing an issuer’s general creditworthiness or a particular security’s default and recovery risk.
- Collect primary rating records. Obtain the current issuer or issue entries from each agency and note the retrieval date.
- Normalize the identity. Match legal entity, instrument, seniority, maturity, guarantees and collateral.
- Separate horizons. Put long-term records in one group and short-term records in another.
- Label the scale. Mark each entry as global or national and retain the agency’s exact symbol.
- Capture status. Add assignment or review date, outlook, watch and review indicators.
- Extract reasons. Summarize the principal positive and negative factors from each rationale without rewriting them as a universal score.
- Investigate gaps. Ask whether a difference is explained by scope, timing, methodology or instrument structure before treating it as a disagreement.
- Make a separate investment analysis. Evaluate price, spread, yield, liquidity, duration, currency, taxes, concentration and suitability independently of the credit symbol.
For a repeatable process, assign one person responsibility for identity matching and another for reviewing the rationale when practical. Keep a change log showing when a grade, outlook or watch status changed. These controls reduce transcription errors and prevent an old symbol from being reused in a new decision.
Common mistakes and how to correct them
- Using a generic equivalence table as a precise conversion. Correction: cite the specific official mapping if one exists and state its scope; otherwise retain each agency’s native symbol.
- Comparing an issuer grade with a bond grade. Correction: match issuer-level records or the same obligation.
- Mixing long-term and short-term symbols. Correction: maintain separate comparison groups.
- Ignoring modifiers. Correction: record Moody’s 1, 2 or 3 modifiers and S&P plus/minus signs exactly as published.
- Using stale ratings. Correction: show assignment or review dates and current outlook, watch or review status.
- Calling an agency “better” from one disagreement. Correction: compare rationales, methodology and historical evidence rather than ranking agencies by a single case.
- Reading “investment grade” as “safe” or “suitable.” Correction: treat the category as one measure of relative credit risk and assess the security independently.
- Interpreting regulatory registration as endorsement. Correction: the SEC’s Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) page lists registered agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s and S&P; registration is a regulatory category, not an SEC ranking or endorsement of rating quality.
- Dropping the scale label. Correction: identify global or national scale and the relevant geography in every published comparison.
- Replacing a rationale with a home-made score. Correction: quote or summarize each agency’s stated drivers and keep your own investment judgment separate.
Tools, access and recordkeeping for larger comparisons
For a handful of securities, a spreadsheet containing the worksheet fields is usually sufficient and does not require a specialized physical product or system. Analysts handling many issuers may need consolidated current and historical records. S&P Global Marketplace documents an Agency Ratings dataset covering issuer- and issue-level ratings from S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.
That dataset is an optional commercial research service rather than a requirement for a basic comparison. Pricing, licensing, coverage and delivery terms can change, so confirm current commercial terms directly with the provider. A paid database may reduce manual retrieval time, but it does not remove the need to verify scope, scale, status and rationale against the original agency record.
The SEC’s current NRSRO page lists Fitch, Moody’s and S&P among agencies registered in the United States, alongside other agencies. Registration identifies a regulatory category; it is not an SEC endorsement, quality ranking or guarantee that agencies will agree. Regardless of the tool, retain the original agency record, the date captured and the exact scale.
What a sound conclusion looks like
A defensible conclusion describes the evidence without pretending that unlike symbols are interchangeable. For example: “As of the comparison date, both agencies rate the same issuer on their global long-term scales. One assigns a higher category than the other; the published rationales differ mainly on leverage and liquidity. One rating also carries a negative outlook.” That statement is more useful than declaring one symbol universally superior.
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When no authoritative cross-agency mapping is available for the exact scales and categories, leave the grades in their native form and explain the practical implication in words. The goal is to understand relative credit risk and the reasons for it, not to manufacture a single composite letter.
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Quick comparison checklist
- Are both records for the same legal issuer or the same specific obligation?
- Are both ratings long-term, or both short-term?
- Are the scales global or national, and is the geography stated?
- Have every modifier, plus or minus sign and other symbol been preserved?
- Do the assignment or review dates align, and are outlook, watch or review signals shown?
- What strengths, risks and assumptions does each rationale identify?
- Is any historical default statistic clearly attributed, dated when possible and limited to the publisher’s own categories?
- Have price, yield, liquidity, duration, currency, taxes and suitability been analyzed separately?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I convert Moody’s and S&P ratings with one chart?
Only when a specific, authoritative mapping covers the relevant agencies, scales, categories and date. Otherwise keep Moody’s modifiers and S&P plus/minus symbols in their native form and describe the difference without claiming an exact conversion.
Should I compare an issuer rating with a bond rating?
No. Compare issuer ratings with issuer ratings, or the same specific obligation with one another. A bond’s seniority, collateral, guarantees and expected recovery can make its issue rating different from the issuer’s broad rating.
What does Moody’s 1, 2 or 3 modifier mean?
For Moody’s ratings from Aa through Caa, 1 indicates the higher end of the category, 2 the middle and 3 the lower end. It is information within Moody’s scale, not an agency-neutral notch.
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S&P identifies BBB− as the lowest investment-grade rating on its long-term scale. Ratings below BBB− are speculative grade on that scale; do not assume every agency uses identical thresholds.
Why can two agencies give different grades?
Differences may reflect scope, review dates, methodologies, assumptions about cash flow or liquidity, industry and sovereign risks, legal structure, or expected recovery. Read both rationales before treating the gap as an error.
How current must a rating be?
Use a common comparison date, record each assignment or review date, and check the current rating record for outlook, watch or review status. A stale rating may not represent the agency’s present view.
Do credit ratings tell me whether to buy a bond?
No. S&P Global Ratings states that “Credit ratings do not speak to investment merits.” Evaluate price, spread, yield, liquidity, duration, currency, taxes, concentration and suitability separately.
Are S&P’s default percentages forecasts?
No. S&P Global Ratings reports historical three-year cumulative rates of 0.91% for BBB, 4.17% for BB, 12.41% for B and 45.67% for CCC/CC. The cited explainer does not state a publication year, and the figures are not forecasts or cross-agency measures.
Do I need a paid database to compare ratings?
No. A spreadsheet and the agencies’ current records are usually sufficient for a small number of securities. S&P Global Marketplace documents an optional commercial Agency Ratings dataset; verify current coverage and terms directly with the provider.
The Bottom Line
Compare like with like: the same issuer or obligation, horizon, scale and date. Preserve each agency’s native symbol and status, read the rationale, and treat the result as credit-risk information—not a precise conversion or a complete investment decision.
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