Moody's Investors Service has come out with a new collateralized debt obligation tool that allows investors to compare their CDO holdings to others in the market and in a specific sector, among other factors. David Little, product strategist in structured finance, says Moody's plans to make its CDO Query available through its Web site in the coming weeks. The research tool aggregates the information the rating agency already provides to its data feed clients, and allows them to upload their portfolio and track certain characteristics in it, such as the weighted average rating factor, and compare it to other bonds Moody's has rated. "We give people a million data points a year; each month this takes the data feed and allows them to search through it," Little explains, adding the tool has been well-received by investors. Since the middle of 2002, the rating agency has been putting out monthly reports on the nearly 500 repackagings of cash securities it rates, and has expanded to release regular performance levels of indices and deal score reports.
The CDO tool is similar to one the rating agency came out with last year on the asset-backed commercial paper market, which it says has been popular with investors. The effort is part of Moody's broader plans to give investors more than just ratings on structured finance transactions by providing additional data beyond the ratings process.