Fitch Ratings Updates Money Market Fund Rating Criteria
Published: April 23, 2020
London/New York - Fitch Ratings has published an updated version of its "Money Market Fund Rating Criteria". These criteria update Fitch's criteria of the same title published on 6 May 2019.
This criteria report primarily focuses on the key rating considerations when assessing the capacity of an MMF, or of other liquidity- or cash-management products, to preserve principal and provide liquidity through limiting credit, market and liquidity risk.
The emphasis is on a manager's ability to avoid losses through limiting credit, market and liquidity risk rather than the particular accounting convention used to calculate NAV, and therefore the criteria are applicable to constant net asset value (NAV), variable or floating NAV, and European low-volatility NAV funds. The criteria are also applicable to other liquidity- or cash-management products such as separately managed accounts, private funds, or other similar vehicles that have comparable investment objectives and operating frameworks to MMFs.
The key elements of Fitch's "Money Market Fund Rating Criteria" are unchanged, and Fitch therefore does not expect any related rating changes.