I’ve got news for them: the share of high-quality investment grade sovereigns – BBB- and above is investment grade – is shrinking. Some bullet points comparing ratings in December 2007 to December 2011:
- From a sample of 76 emerging market (EM) and developed market (DM) economies, 23 sovereigns have been upgraded by S&P (I use S&P specifically, but the agencies usually move in lockstep at a lag). These upgrades span both EM and DM markets, but EM dominated with 19 upgrades overall..
- The number of high-quality investment grade sovereigns – A- and above – fell by 6.
- The AAA universe shrank by 2 economies – more is to come with imminent downgrades in Europe.
2007-2011 in charts: moving down in quality
