We thought we were done with the whole letter grade thing once we graduated from college, but apparently, we were wrong. Because...here we are, stuck in a meeting with the rest of Carnie-copia, Inc.’s executive team on a Monday morning, listening to our CEO lecture us on how getting a “C” in a high school class might have been acceptable, but it ain't acceptable here at the world’s finest unique event planning company.
So how did we end up getting a “C” grade when we weren’t even taking a class? Easy: Morningstar gave it to us.
Morningstar, a big-name investment research and analysis company, grades various stocks and mutual funds according to their stewardship, or how good they are at taking care of their shareholders. This grade is called a “stewardship grade,” and it ranges from “A” to “F.” Just like in school. But, unlike school, there are no curves on this grading scale. And there are no pluses or minuses, either. What you get is what you get, and that’s all there is to it.
There are five factors that go into the grade: board quality, corporate culture, fees, manager incentives, and regulatory issues. Companies with an “A” grade have excellent shareholder communication and transparency, and they consistently act in the best interest of their shareholders, regardless of what’s going on internally. Companies with an “F” grade do, um...the opposite. So while we should be glad that Carnie-copia didn’t score an “F” or a “D,” we should probably also be looking for ways we can improve our management practices to hopefully earn a better grade next time.
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Finance: What are the Differences in S&P...27 Views
finance a la shmoop what are the differences in S&P's, and Moody's
ratings? capital letters. really that's about it the assessment of the rating
itself is about the same. the people work at both companies all came from about [grinning men walk in front of a school]
the same schools the same semi diversified backgrounds and well they
all eat the same white bread. note the nomenclature differences here though.
Moody's does in fact look kind of moody with a big fat capital letter in the
beginning followed by small letters and slightly different notations. the S&P is
all in caps all shouting all the time. the metrics behind say a quote highly [chart shown]
speculative bond unquote down here are about the same for both companies but
the slight differences are worth noting so that when you see a rating well you
know just by the way in which it's written who wrote it.
now as for actually understanding bond ratings well that's a different story. to [document shown]
most people they might as well be hieroglyphics. [confused woman reads paper]
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