Credit Benchmark

Credit Benchmark is a London-based financial-data and analytics company focused on institutional credit-risk intelligence. Founded in 2012 by Donal Smith and Mark Faulkner, both formerly associated with Data Explorers, the company developed a model that aggregates the internal credit-risk assessments of participating financial institutions. Those contributions are anonymized and combined to produce consensus views on the creditworthiness of corporate, financial, fund and sovereign entities. The company's principal output is its Credit Consensus Rating and related analytics. Rather than presenting only the opinion of a single rating agency or bank, the service is designed to show the aggregated view of a network of contributing institutions. The underlying information includes measures such as probability of default and forward-looking senior unsecured loss-given-default estimates. Credit Benchmark supplements the consensus rating with descriptive statistics, including information about the dispersion and range of contributing views, allowing users to assess not only the central estimate but also the degree of agreement or disagreement among contributors. Credit Benchmark began collecting data from internal-ratings-based banks in 2014 and released its first Credit Consensus data in May 2015. Releases initially followed a monthly schedule and later became twice monthly. The dataset has been positioned as a resource for banks, insurers and reinsurers, asset managers, central counterparties and other organizations that need independent or complementary credit-risk information for research, monitoring, portfolio management and risk assessment. The company has expanded the distribution of its data through financial-information platforms and industry partnerships. In 2019, its data became available through the FactSet Marketplace. In 2020, Credit Benchmark provided the Bank of England with access to its dataset in connection with processing applications for the COVID Corporate Financing Facility, and it announced partnerships with the Global Peer Financing Association and IHS Markit. Its data was also made available through the Bloomberg Terminal and Bloomberg enterprise services in November 2020. Beyond entity-level ratings, Credit Benchmark has developed security-level assessments through a Bloomberg partnership. These assessments combine the company's consensus view with Bloomberg security-reference information to provide rating assessments for bonds and loans issued by rated entities. The offering extends the utility of the consensus data from issuer analysis toward instrument-level credit research. Credit Benchmark remains a privately held company headquartered in London, with an office in New York and a client base serving international financial markets. Its business model is based on subscription access to proprietary credit-risk data and analytics. The company's distinct positioning is the use of aggregated, anonymized views from professional market participants rather than relying exclusively on public financial statements, market prices or traditional external ratings. In 2022, it joined the World Economic Forum's Global Innovators Community.

Credit Benchmark was established in 2012 by Donal Smith and Mark Faulkner, who had previously worked at Data Explorers. The founders pursued a data model based on the proposition that the internal credit judgments maintained by banks and other financial institutions could provide a valuable source of forward-looking information if collected at scale and made comparable without identifying the contributing institutions. The company began gathering probability-of-default and forward-looking senior unsecured loss-given-default data from several internal-ratings-based banks in 2014. Its early financing supported the development of the data infrastructure and commercial service: a $7 million Series A round was completed in 2014 with Index Ventures as lead investor, followed by a $20 million Series B round in 2015 led by Balderton Capital. In 2018, the company raised a further $7 million from Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, Communitas Capital and private investors including Michael Sherwood, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs International. Credit Benchmark released its first Credit Consensus data in May 2015. The service aggregated and anonymized contributor views to generate consensus ratings covering corporate, financial, fund and sovereign entities. Data publication began monthly and subsequently moved to a twice-monthly schedule. The product was designed to complement, rather than simply duplicate, conventional credit information by showing the collective direction and dispersion of professional risk assessments. As the platform matured, Credit Benchmark broadened its institutional and distribution relationships. In 2019 it formed an Advisory Board chaired by Craig Broderick, a former Goldman Sachs chief risk officer, and made its data available through the FactSet Marketplace. In 2020, during the COVID-19 economic disruption, the company gave the Bank of England access to its dataset to support the processing of applications for the COVID Corporate Financing Facility. It also announced relationships with the Global Peer Financing Association and IHS Markit during that year. In November 2020, its data was launched on the Bloomberg Terminal and Bloomberg enterprise service. The company later extended its service from issuer-level information toward bond- and loan-level analysis. Through a partnership with Bloomberg, Credit Benchmark combines its consensus ratings with Bloomberg's security-reference data to produce rating assessments, or notching, for securities issued by entities covered by its dataset. This expanded the potential use cases from general credit surveillance to instrument-specific portfolio and research workflows. Credit Benchmark operates internationally from its London headquarters and a New York office. Its stated customer groups include banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, asset managers, certified credit professionals and other financial firms. In 2022, it joined the World Economic Forum's Global Innovators Community. The company is privately held, and the available reference material does not identify a public listing, controlling parent or current chief executive.

1. 2022World Economic Forum community membership

   Credit Benchmark joined the World Economic Forum's Global Innovators Community.

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2. 2020Central-bank access and Bloomberg distribution

   Credit Benchmark supported Bank of England processing related to the COVID Corporate Financing Facility and launched its dataset through Bloomberg services.

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3. 2019Advisory Board and FactSet distribution

   The company formed an Advisory Board chaired by Craig Broderick and added its data to the FactSet Marketplace.

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4. 2018Further private financing

   Credit Benchmark completed a further funding round involving existing investors and other private investors.

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5. 2015First Credit Consensus release

   The company released its first Credit Consensus data in May and completed a Series B financing round led by Balderton Capital.

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6. 2014Initial bank data collection and Series A financing

   Credit Benchmark began collecting probability-of-default and loss-given-default information from internal-ratings-based banks and completed a Series A financing round led by Index Ventures.

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7. 2012Company founded

   Donal Smith and Mark Faulkner founded Credit Benchmark in the United Kingdom.

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An institutional credit-risk data specialist that converts anonymized risk assessments from major financial institutions into consensus ratings and analytical indicators.

• Credit Consensus RatingsEntity-level credit ratings2015

  A subscription data service that aggregates and anonymizes credit-risk views contributed by major financial institutions. It covers corporate, financial, fund and sovereign entities and is intended to provide a collective market-participant perspective on creditworthiness.

• Credit Consensus AnalyticsCredit-risk analytics2015

  Analytics accompanying the consensus ratings explain the distribution of contributing views. Measures such as ranges and standard deviations help users evaluate uncertainty, disagreement and changes in the underlying institutional credit assessments.

• Bond and Loan Rating AssessmentsSecurity-level credit assessments

  A Bloomberg partnership combines Credit Benchmark's entity-level consensus with Bloomberg security-reference information to create rating assessments for bonds and loans issued by covered entities. The service extends issuer analysis to individual financial instruments.

• 2020Expansion into central-bank and enterprise distributionStrategy

  The COVID-19 disruption increased demand for credit-risk information while public institutions and financial firms processed emergency financing activity.

  What changed. Credit Benchmark provided the Bank of England access to its dataset for COVID Corporate Financing Facility applications and expanded commercial distribution through Bloomberg, alongside partnerships with the Global Peer Financing Association and IHS Markit.

  Aftermath. The arrangements broadened the visibility and institutional use of the company's credit-risk dataset.

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• 2015Launch of Credit Consensus dataProduct launch

  After collecting institutional probability-of-default and loss-given-default views, Credit Benchmark sought to commercialize an anonymized consensus view of credit risk.

  What changed. The company released its first Credit Consensus data in May 2015 and continued publishing it on a recurring basis.

  Aftermath. The release established the company's core data product and supported later distribution through financial-information platforms.

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• 2022Credit Benchmark joins the World Economic Forum Global Innovators Community

  Credit Benchmark joined the World Economic Forum's Global Innovators Community.

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• 2020Credit Benchmark supports COVID Corporate Financing Facility processing

  Credit Benchmark supplied the Bank of England with access to its dataset to assist with processing applications for the COVID Corporate Financing Facility.

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• 2020Credit Benchmark data launches on Bloomberg services

  The company's dataset became available through the Bloomberg Terminal and Bloomberg enterprise services in November.

  Product launch
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• 2019Credit Benchmark data added to the FactSet Marketplace

  Credit Benchmark announced that its data would be distributed through the FactSet Marketplace.

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• 2019Credit Benchmark establishes an Advisory Board

  The company announced an Advisory Board chaired by former Goldman Sachs chief risk officer Craig Broderick.

  Leadership change
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• 2015Credit Benchmark completes Series B funding

  The company raised a Series B round led by Balderton Capital as it developed and distributed its credit consensus dataset.

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• 2014Credit Benchmark completes Series A funding

  The company completed a Series A financing round led by Index Ventures.

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1. Credit Benchmark
2. Credit Benchmark official website