What are investment and speculative grade ratings?
An investment grade rating signifies the rating agency’s belief that the rated instrument is likely to meet its payment obligations. The debt instruments rated 'BBB' and above are classified as investment grade ratings. Instruments that are rated ‘BB‘ and below are classified as speculative grade category ratings in which case the ability to meet the payment obligations is considered to be “speculative”. Instruments rated in the speculative grade are considered to carry materially higher risk and a higher probability of default compared to instruments rated in the investment grade.
