High quality bonds that are rated Baa or higher by Moody's, or BBB or higher by Standard & Poor's Investment grade bonds are considered safe, because the rating reflects the perceived financial stability of the issuer Usually, however, the higher the bond's rating, the lower the interest it must pay to attract buyers
A term used to describe bonds suitable for purchase by prudent investors Standard & Poor's and Moody's, both rating agencies, designate the bondsin their top four categories as investment grade
The broad credit designation given bonds which have a high probability of being paid and minor, if any, speculative features Bonds rated BBB or higher by Standard and Poor's Corporation or Baa or higher by Moody's Investors Service, Inc , are deemed by those agencies to be "investment grade " Banking law requires that certain types of securities acquired by bank portfolios must be both marketable and "investment grade"; it should be noted that the presence (or absence) of a rating deemed "investment grade" by the rating agencies is not necessarily indicative of a security's status for purposes of banking law See: RATINGS
A bond with a Standard and Poor's BBB or higher rating or a Moody's Baa or higher rating These bonds are deemed to have a high probability of being paid back, with very minor if any speculative features
A critical threshold in the rank of credit ratings Any rating at or above BBB- at S&P and Baa3 at Moody's is investment grade, while any rating below that level is non-investment grade
A bond whose credit quality is considered to be among the most secure by any independent bond-rating agency A rating of Baa or higher by Moody's Investors Service or a rating of BBB or higher by Standard & Poor's is considered investment grade
High quality bonds that are rated AAA or higher by a rating agency Investment grade bonds are considered safe However, the higher the bond's rating, the lower the interest it offers
Term used in bond rating It indicates that the bond is suitable for prudent investors Fiduciaries often need to maintain credit quality levels and tend to buy mostly investment grade level debt
Investment grade relates to a bond being suitable for purchase by institutions under the "prudent man" rule Investment grade is restricted to those bonds graded BBB and above by the rating agencies The two most recognized independent rating agencies for municipal bonds are Moody's and Standard & Poor's
High-quality bonds, suitable for conservative investment accounts, with credit ratings of BBB or bbb or higher by Standard & Poor's or Moodys investor services
An assessment of a bond by a credit-rating firm that indicates whether investors are expected to receive principal and interest payments in full and on time A grade of BBB or higher from Standard & Poor's or Baa or higher from Moody's Investors Service is considered investment grade Lower grades (BB, Ba, B, etc ) are considered speculative Investment grade bonds have less risk of default but lower yields than speculative bonds Speculative bonds are also called high-yield or junk bonds See "Types of Bonds " BACK TO TOP
Describes the top four rating categories of relatively secure bonds suitable for a conservative investor Standard & Poor's rating service looks upon all bonds between the AAA and BBB ratings as investment grade Generally speaking, any bonds rated below BBB are considered to have speculative features and are deemed sub-investment grade or junk bonds
Bonds which are a very high level of credit quality A bond rated BBB or above by Standard and Poors and a bond rated Baa or above by Moodys Any other bond is known as a Junk Bond or High Yielding Bond
Bonds rated in the top four rating categories (AAA, AA, A, BBB) are commonly known as investment grade securities and are considered eligible for bank investment under present commercial bank regulations issued by Comptroller of the Currency
Bond issues that the three major bond rating agencies, Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch rate BBB or Baa or better Many fiduciaries, trustees, some mutual fund managers can only invest in securities with an investment-grade rating
Bonds considered suitable for preservation of invested capital; ordinarily, those rated Baa3 or better by Moody's Investors Service, or BBB- or better by Standard & Poor's Corporation (see "ratings")
Designating a bond suitable for purchase by institutions under the prudent man rule Typically BBB from S&P or Baa from Moody's
A bond that is rated within the top four categories by Moody's or Standard & Poor's