JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Bausch Health lead corporate debt issuers in Institutional Investor’s first annual Global Fixed-Income Investor Relations ranking.
More than 1,300 bond and credit specialists from over 650 asset management firms voted for their favorite fixed-income investor relations teams worldwide and within the U.S. and Canada, Europe, and Asia.
These respondents ranked the top issuers of investment-grade and high-yield debt globally across nine industry sectors. They evaluated investor relations teams based on five attributes: balance sheet transparency, communication of strategy shifts, clarity of debt covenant calculations and other provisions, responsiveness to questions on debt ratings, and engagement with bondholders.
Just three companies earned No. 1 rankings in both the high-yield and investment-grade categories: JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Bausch Health.
All the results, plus an article on the rankings and the full methodology, can be viewed using the navigation bar at right.
To determine the members of Institutional Investor’s 2019 Global Fixed-Income Investor Relations rankings, we surveyed bond and credit specialists at leading asset management firms around the world, including those who cast votes in this year’s Global Fixed-Income Research Team survey.
We asked these individuals to rate companies in their coverage universes across five fixed-income investor relations attributes for their investment-grade or high-yield offerings. The attributes were: transparency of balance sheet; proactive communication of shifts in strategy; clear calculations of debt covenants and other provisions; responsiveness to questions on ratings; proactive engagement with bondholders. Firms were rated on a scale from 1-5, and all votes were weighted by rating. These results were then aggregated to create the Best Investor Relations ranking.
Voters were also asked to rate companies on their prudent, value-creating use of debt. These responses were used to create separate investment-grade and high-yield rankings on the best use of debt.
Investment-grade results are presented overall, and by companies headquartered in USA/Canada, Europe or Asia. High-yield results are presented overall and by companies headquartered in the USA/Canada.
We keep confidential the identities of the survey respondents and their firms to ensure their continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count. All ballots are subject to review by our Research Operations Group. Survey results reflect the opinions from more than 1,300 investment professionals at over 650 financial services firms.