Kent Reliance Building Society

chd25

Can anyone please tell me why it is that Kent Reliance Building Society (and a few others) aren't rated on the Fitch or Moody's scale of financial stability. I have asked them and they just say, " we don't include this information for Kent R. BS". This is a mystery to me. I would like to invest in thier ISA but don't know how highly they are rated. Many thanks.
chd25

bristolleedsfan

If you are investing less than 50000 then it doesnt really matter does it. ?????

Bernard_Coleslaw

I think the ratings agencies tend not to look at the smaller societies - perhaps its a top 15 thing.

Ratings are only really of use to corporate investors - I agree with bristolleedsfan that it shouldn't really matter if you're investing less than £50k.

MarkyMarkD

Although ratings agencies are independent, they only produce ratings for those organisations who pay them to do so.

There is no point in any organisation paying for a rating unless they need to do so. Building societies like Kent Reliance do not borrow in the sort of markets where a rating matters and hence they don't have a rating.

Not having a rating is not a bad sign. It is a sign that they have sufficient funding to not need to tap the credit markets which require a rating.

All the focus (encouraged by newspapers like the Mail) on ratings is a bit of a red herring, because of the FSCS protection and the fact that the government hasn't let any retail investor lose a penny in any of the recent collapses. Even the £50k limit is irrelevant.