S&P Global (SPGI) Barclays 22nd Annual Global Financial Services Conference summary

Leadership transition and vision

• Martina Cheung will assume the CEO role in November, bringing experience from leading Market Intelligence and Ratings, and involvement in major mergers like SNL and IHS Markit.

• She emphasizes a strong understanding of growth drivers across diverse business segments and a disciplined approach to portfolio management.

• Recent portfolio actions, such as the Fincentric announcement, reflect ongoing optimization efforts.

Ratings business performance and strategy

• Structured finance and private markets have seen significant revenue growth, with Q2 structured finance revenue up over 60% year-over-year and private markets up 52% in the first half.

• Strategic focus on investing in analytic capacity and expertise has enabled the business to handle outsized issuance and target growth sectors.

• Reorganization and targeted commercial efforts, especially in private credit, have improved client engagement and operational efficiency.

Market environment and issuance trends

• 2024 has seen atypical issuance patterns, with refinancing accounting for two-thirds of high yield and bank loan activity, and bank loan refinancing volumes surpassing full-year totals from 2018-2023.

• New issuance driven by M&A and IPOs remains below historical averages, with optimism for a rebound skewed toward 2025.

• Guidance anticipates sequential issuance slowdown from Q2 to Q4, with Q4 volatility expected due to geopolitical and rate environment uncertainties.