Investment report July 2025 - View into the portfolio

S&P Global - One of the world's leading financial information providers
 

S&P Global is one of the most important players in the global financial system. As the world's largest rating agency and a leading provider of indices, credit data, commodity analysis and economic information, the company plays a central role for investors, analysts and political decision-makers worldwide.

The business structure is broadly diversified and extremely stable. The most important revenue drivers are Market Intelligence (35%), Ratings (27%), Commodity Insights (15%), Mobility (12%) and Indices (11%). Over 80% of revenues are recurring and highly predictable – a quality that is also reflected in the operating margins: the adjusted EBITDA margin is over 45% across the Group. The rating business in particular plays a special role as it is relevant for regulatory purposes, is in high demand and is based on deep institutional trust.

In the rating segment, S&P Global assesses the creditworthiness of countries, companies and structured products. The ratings range from AAA (highest creditworthiness) to D (default). The better the rating, the lower the risk premium demanded by investors – and the cheaper the financing. Three agencies dominate this market worldwide: S&P, Moody's and Fitch.

In many cases, a rating from one of these agencies is a regulatory requirement for investors to be allowed to buy bonds at all. This makes the business highly protected: new competitors 
usually fail due to a lack of credibility, insufficient data depth and a lack of regulatory recognition. Rating agencies also benefit from a structural advantage: even if an issuer can take its time with refinancing, at some point a rating will be required, which generates direct revenue. This makes business performance less cyclical and highly predictable.

S&P Global has an impressive financial track record. Revenue has more than doubled in the last ten years, while free cash flow has more than tripled over the same period – most recently to around USD 4.4 billion in 2024. The return on invested capital (ROIC) is over 15%. At the same time, the balance sheet is conservatively financed: Net debt amounted to only around USD 1.4 billion as at 31 December 2024. Moody's has given the company a solid A rating.

A key success factor is the deep integration of the products into customers' work processes. This leads to high dependency, low churn rates and excellent predictability.

S&P Global is excellently positioned. The combination of stable, high-margin business models, structural moats, close customer relationships and high financial quality makes the company an indispensable part of the global financial architecture – and a structural growth stock.

Yours sincerely

Johannes Hesche             Tobias Engl