Rebuilding the United States Infrastructure

From the opening of canals, to the development of an intercontinental railroad system, to the interstate highway program, infrastructure has helped the United States (US) become the global economic engine it is today. However, infrastructure has been aging over the past several decades as capital needs are being deferred and the lack of investment is challenging the ability of the US to sustain its economic prosperity.

Fortunately, for more than 100 years, the US has been able to address 75% of its’ infrastructure through the US Municipal Bond Market.^[1] For investors, the highly segmented nature of the Municipal Bond Market creates challenges. Each segment, such as state and local governments, healthcare systems, universities, utilities, and transportation issuers, requires a different analytical approach and distinctly different data sets.

In response, S&P Global Market Intelligence has launched the Public Finance Automated Scoring Tool (PFAST) - a data, credit, and portfolio solution.

• Within days of being released publicly, relevant financial data is extracted and fed into our scoring models to provide credit scores, which can be used as early warning indicators of credit quality changes.^[2]
• Our Credit Assessment Scorecards are designed for each municipal segment and contain automated financial spreading to increase the efficiency of workflows.
• Monitor the change in credit quality with new financials in minutes by inputting your CUSIPs or identifier.

As companies within the US begin to help rebuild its infrastructure, consider PFAST for its streamlined data collection and credit scoring process to help you understand and monitor the credit quality of your infrastructure investments.