The Big Take
A New Ratings Game: 3,000 Deals, 20 Analysts, Lots of Questions
A tiny firm says it’s the market's most prolific grader of private credit. Industry insiders worry trouble is brewing.
Sean Egan during a conference on sovereign debt in New York, on Jan. 24, 2012.
Photographer: Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Nothing about the old house on Haverford Station Road, just outside of Philadelphia, hints at the new fortunes that have run through it.
But in 2024, the business then based in this quaint four-bedroom colonial graded more than 3,000 investments that were all destined for the same place: the fast-growing market in private credit. Each was assigned a credit rating to gauge the risks for investors.