Why Our Credit Analysis is Superior to any NSRO
With more than fifty‑three years of experience as a security analyst—and having recognized early the central importance of the cost of equity as a reflection of risk to prospective free cash flows—I regard credit as an indispensable component of that framework.
Credit considerations permeate every dimension of valuation. In the more readily observable areas, this includes the stability and composition of revenues, supported by statistical analysis of frequency, magnitude, and duration. In the more technical domains—actuarial assumptions, global tax‑code structures, and the reclassification errors we routinely identify—credit remains equally foundational.
As U.S. population growth decelerates to historically low levels, and as several other developed economies confront outright demographic contraction (as discussed in our most recent client‑only review), we have continued to refine our cost‑of‑capital models in both quantitative and qualitative terms. Demographic dynamics now stand alongside credit as structural determinants of long‑term discount rates.
Over the course of our work, there is little within the field of finance that we have not undertaken or examined: global M&A engagements, fairness opinions for publicly traded entities, responsibility for a change in SEC reporting requirement, and a range of academic contributions, including publications in the Journal of Accounting, chapters in CFA‑recommended texts, and lectures delivered at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
CT Capital Research and Investment Advisory
