Stephen Hughes

Moody's Investors Service Ltd. is the Great Britain-based investment research subsidiary of Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO) in the US. The firm was founded in 1985 under the name Rapidcredit Ltd. Headquartered in London, Moody's Investors Service provides credit ratings, research, and risk analysis. Credit ratings and research help investors analyze the credit risks associated with fixed-income securities. Such independent credit ratings and research also contribute to efficiencies in fixed-income markets and other obligations, such as insurance policies and derivative transactions, by providing credible and independent assessments of credit risk.

Fitch Ratings Ltd. (FRL) is an investment research firm headquartered in London, UK. The firm was founded in 1977 and is a subsidiary of Fitch Ratings, Inc., ultimately held by The Hearst Family Trust in the US. FRL provides research and specialized ratings of services to residential and commercial mortgages, asset managers and managed funds. They also publish quantitatively based ratings such as Q-IFS ratings.