The rating outlook of both rating agencies (S&P and Moody’s) can be another criterion to choose between industries. If companies with a positive rating outlook outweigh the companies with a stable or negative rating outlook within an industry, it can be a good indicator for favorable industry dynamics, even if we have to recognize that ratings are sometimes lagging indicators for credit quality. A diversified portfolio should overweight the industries with a positive rating outlook and underweight industries with a negative rating outlook if the whole credit market experiences a “Flight-to-Quality.” During a market phase with a higher risk appetite, fundamental factors like the rating trend in a specific industry might not be the primary decision criterion for a sector positioning and other factors like valuation
will play a bigger role.

Comments are closed.