Fitch Ratings has assigned
The final rating is contingent upon the receipt of final documents conforming to information already received.
Fitch rates
Key Rating Drivers
The issue is indicatively
In line with standard Tier 2 notes issued by
For more details on
The rating of the Tier 2 notes is primarily sensitive to movements in
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
Evidence of an increase in balance-sheet risk appetite (e.g. from taking on material leverage resulting in a gross debt/(F)EBITDA ratio exceeding 1.5x);
An unexpected operational or reputational event challenging the robustness of
Significantly reduced earnings (e.g. in the light of material net assets under management (AUM) outflows or a prolonged period of depressed market conditions reducing fee-earning AUM without adequate compensating savings in
Downgrade of the
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
Near-term upgrade potential is limited, as ratings in the 'AA' category require performance stability that is difficult for investment managers to achieve, given the inherent sensitivity of their earnings to falling asset values amid market stress.
In the medium term, positive rating action would likely require growth that leads to both greater scale efficiencies and enhanced diversification of revenue.
REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING
The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.
ESG Considerations
The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.
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