Results of the 2025 Credit Rating Agency Competency Assessment Released
Korea Ratings was found to be the most outstanding among domestic credit rating agencies in terms of credit rating accuracy, stability, and the usefulness of predictive indicators.
The Korea Financial Investment Association announced the results of the "2025 Credit Rating Agency Competency Assessment" on May 29, following deliberation by the Credit Rating Agency Competency Assessment Committee.
To evaluate whether credit ratings are overestimated, the assessment focused on two areas: the accuracy of credit ratings and the stability and usefulness of predictive indicators. The evaluation method was developed through discussions among experts from academia, research institutes, and the financial investment industry task force, and incorporated feedback from credit rating agencies.
The competency assessment of credit rating agencies consisted of a quantitative evaluation, which scores key indicators representing the characteristics of each category (such as default rate and rating retention rate), and a qualitative evaluation, which is a survey of market experts. To minimize the impact of "image voting," the survey targeted credit bond analysts and portfolio managers with a high level of understanding of credit ratings. A total of 104 professionals from securities firms, asset management companies, banks, insurance companies, and pension funds participated in the survey.
In the area of credit rating accuracy, Korea Ratings received the highest score. NICE Ratings was rated best for credit rating accuracy based on the investment-grade default rate. A representative from the Korea Financial Investment Association explained, "All three credit rating agencies had the same number of defaults?one case each?among the rated issues," and added, "Because NICE Ratings had the largest evaluation sample (the denominator for default rate), its default rate was calculated to be the lowest."
In the domestic expert survey, Korea Ratings was also rated as the most outstanding.
For the stability and usefulness of predictive indicators, NICE Ratings excelled in the quantitative evaluation, while Korea Ratings performed best in the qualitative evaluation. In the usefulness category, both Korea Ratings and Korea Investors Service received a perfect score of 100% in the quantitative evaluation. Korea Ratings achieved the highest overall ranking by receiving a higher score in the qualitative evaluation.
In the survey on ESG-related competencies, such as ESG bond certification by credit rating agencies, Korea Ratings was found to be the most outstanding.
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