Preston & Cole
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| CSX:PRC | |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Headquarters | 1561 Lovecraft Road, , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Patrick Dole (CEO) |
| Products |
|
| Services | Credit and investment assessment |
Number of employees | 12,890 |
| Parent | Preston & Cole Global |
Preston & Cole is a credit rating agency from South Hills. It rates the debt of governments and individual corporations. Entities strive to get a high rating from Preston & Cole because a high rating indicates that the company can be trusted to pay back their debts. Institutions such as the Concordian Stock Exchange and Auroran Stock Exchange requires an investment grade rating from Preston & Cole in order to continue selling their securities on their exchanges. Standards for debt instruments and in-the-future contracts tend to be higher due to the fact that risk of default increases over time. Preston & Cole is more hesitant to grant higher ratings for highly risky and illiquid instruments such as collateralised debt obligations.
Ratings system
Investment grade
An investment grade rating indicates that the entity satisfies conditions to be regarded as investment-worthy.
- AAA: Highest investment grade rating
- AA
- AA1
- AA2
- AA3
- A
- A1
- A1
- A3
- BBB: Lowest investment grade rating
Non-investment grade
A non-investment grade rating is that investment in such entities is speculative and highly risky.
- BB
- BB1
- BB2
- BB3
- B
- B1
- B2
- B3
- C
- C1
- C2
- C3
Sustainability ratings
This rating looks at how much an investment is environmentally and socially sustainable, and effectively and transparently governed. It looks at how employees, communities, consumers and the environment are protected, how frequent, timeous and accurate reporting on sustainability is and how committed companies are to become sustainable. It especially looks at the International Convention on Climate Change for further inspiration especially when assessing sovereign sustainability risks.
- EEE: Highest sustainability rating
- EE
- EE1
- EE2
- EE2
- E
- E1
- E2
- E3
- F: Represents failure where a company does not meet Sustainability ratings at all.
Indices
Preston & Cole also compiles a list of index benchmarks against which portfolio managers can compare their investments against:
- P&S CSX 500: Represents the five hundred largest corporations on the Concordian Stock Exchange by market capitalisation
- P&S CSX Gold Bonds: Represents the five hundred most stable and reliable bonds on the market.
- P&S CSX Growth: Represents the fastest growing companies on the market
- P&S CSX Defensives: Represents companies that are not growing but are instead occupying stable positions in the market
- P&S CSX Industry Indices: This is a family of indices based on indices
P&S also has indices for companies traded on the Auroran Stock Exchange similar to the ones above.