UBS: Fast Take: US Information Services "Preliminary ETF AUM finishes..."

Research evidence excerpt

UBS: Fast Take: US Information Services "Preliminary ETF AUM finishes..."

Valuation Method and Risk Statement

The primary downside risks to information services stocks include a deceleration in organic

revenue growth that could cause investors to assign lower multiples to the companies;

integration risk regarding recent or future acquisitions that could negatively impact earnings

in the short-term; and significant deterioration of the health of industries served such as the

financial services, mortgage (VRSK, MCO, SPGI), insurance (VRSK), or alternative assets.

Disruptions of service at MSCI, Verisk, and FactSet could damage the companies’ reputations

among customers. Reduction in spending and headcount at financial services companies

could result in fewer FactSet and Capital IQs (SPGI) users as well as users of IHS Markit’s,

Moody’s, and MSCI’s analytics and information products and increase competitive pressure

to win new clients and maintain pricing. A spike in interest rates due to liquidity or solvency

fears could have a negative impact on debt issuance and consequently on SPGI’s and MCO’s

operating results. A global decline in equity markets could result in lower asset based fees for

SPGI, MSCI, and INFO. Additionally, entry of new competitors with lower price points could

cause pricing pressure on SPGI’s, MSCI’s, and INFO’s index based products. Regulatory

uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe could lead to increased compliance costs and put pressure

on margins, particularly for rating agencies (SPGI, MCO). Information service and index

providers also face the risk that a shift from OTC to exchange-trading/clearing may reduce the

value of price information for certain instruments (INFO, SPGI, MSCI). Companies in the