Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
December 16, 2002 at 07:00 PM
LONDON (HedgeWorld.com)–Moody’s Investor Services has assigned a Baa1 management quality rating to Custom House Administration & Corporate Services, Ltd., Dublin, the first rating it has given to any hedge fund administrator.
Moody’s launched its MQ ratings three years ago, according to analyst Vania Schleef, until now using them only to evaluate service providers of traditional funds. It began looking at administrators of hedge funds only a year ago, and this is the first fruit born of that decision.
“We look at the service providers, because it’s important everything works around the funds,” she added.
In Moody’s more familiar investment-grading system, Baa represents a medium grade (neither highly protected nor poorly secured).
Ms. Schleef said the MQ grades are “comparable” to the investment grades. Her report said that, on the plus side, Custom House’s top management demonstrates “a comprehensive understanding of the hedge fund management business, backed up by their extensive experience, providing the company with an excellent insight into key industry trends and developments.” On the negative side, it continued, efforts to rationalize its organizational structure and apply new procedures “have only been relatively recently undertaken [and] Custom House still needs to ensure full implementation across the different areas of the business.”
