Korea Investors Service
Korea Investors Service is Korea's first credit rating agency (founded 1985), operating as a Moody's wholly-owned subsidiary and providing ECAI-designated credit ratings, ESG certification, and research to Korean corporates, financial institutions, and public enterprises.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1985
- HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Korea Investors Service does
Korea Investors Service (한국신용평가, KIS) is Korea's first credit rating agency, established in February 1985 and headquartered in Seoul. It is a privately held, wholly-owned subsidiary of Moody's Singapore Pte. Ltd. following Moody's full acquisition in July 2016, with 51–100 employees operating from the 63 Building in Yeongdeungpo-gu. KIS was designated as an Eligible Credit Rating Agency (ECAI) by Korea's Financial Supervisory Service in 2007, making its ratings a regulatory requirement for unsecured corporate bonds to qualify for inclusion in bank and investment trust assets.
The company provides credit evaluation services across a broad product surface: corporate bond ratings, commercial paper ratings, short-term bond ratings (launched 2013), issuer ratings, asset-backed securities ratings, insurance financial strength ratings, project finance feasibility evaluations, fund ratings, stock valuations, and restructuring evaluations. It has expanded into adjacent services including ESG financial certification (launched July 2020), sustainability-linked finance certification, Korean Green Taxonomy (K-Taxonomy) external reviews, and is currently developing a won-backed stablecoin assessment methodology through a dedicated digital assets team. KIS also publishes over 6,239 research items — industry outlooks, issuer comments, special reports, and ESG assessments — distributed through its website, mobile app, Bloomberg, Reuters, KOSCOM, and the Korean Financial Investment Association.
The business model combines per-transaction rating fees (base fees scaled to issuer assets plus proportional issuance-based fees, e.g., 1/10,000 for corporate bonds and 3/10,000 for ABS) with annual post-evaluation maintenance fees and recurring revenue from the KCW paid subscription service used by banks, securities firms, asset managers, and insurance companies. Sales are conducted through three dedicated Relationship Management groups (Enterprise, Financial/Public, Structured Finance), supplemented by paid training programs, joint conferences with Moody's, and content marketing via YouTube and the corporate website. The customer base is concentrated in large Korean corporations, financial institutions, public enterprises, and educational foundations, with the company operating exclusively in the South Korean domestic market.
Korea Investors Service firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Korea Investors Service
- Legal name
- Korea Investors Service, Inc. (한국신용평가 주식회사)
- Website
- https://kisrating.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1985
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Korea Investors Service is Korea's first credit rating agency (founded 1985), operating as a Moody's wholly-owned subsidiary and providing ECAI-designated credit ratings, ESG certification, and research to Korean corporates, financial institutions, and public enterprises.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Korea Investors Service is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Seoul
- HQ country
- South Korea
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
Korea Investors Service business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Credit evaluation fees (corporate bonds, commercial paper, ABS): Fees are charged for credit rating services including corporate bond evaluations, commercial paper evaluations, ABS evaluations, issuer ratings, insurance financial strength ratings, PF feasibility studies, and fund ratings. The fee structure includes base fees, proportional fees (e.g., issuance amount × 1/10,000 for bonds), and post-evaluation maintenance fees.
- KCW subscription service: Annual paid subscription service providing credit ratings and research reports including industry outlooks, group analysis reports, issuer comments, special reports, and ESG assessments. Used primarily by banks, securities firms, asset managers, and insurance companies for credit analysis and risk management.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Corporate bond credit evaluation: base fee + proportional issuance fee + post-management fee |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Commercial paper evaluation: asset-based proportional fee |
| Other | Multi-year contract | ABS (asset-backed securities) evaluation: proportional issuance fee + post-management fee |
| Subscription | Annual | Issuer Rating: asset-based fixed fee |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Corporate credit analysis training program: per-person fee |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | ABS credit analysis training program: per-person fee |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Korea Investors Service product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Korea Investors Service (KIS) is Korea's first and longest-established credit rating agency, providing credit evaluation services for corporate bonds, commercial paper, short-term bonds, issuer ratings, asset-backed securities, insurance financial strength, project finance, school foundations, funds, stock valuation, and restructuring. The company also offers ESG financial certification, sustainability-linked finance certification, and Korean green bond external review services, alongside a paid KCW subscription research service and the KIS-LINE financial information platform serving banks, securities firms, insurance companies, asset managers, large corporates, and public enterprises.
Product overview
Korea Investors Service (한국신용평가) is Korea's first credit rating agency, established in 1985, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Moody's since 2016. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of credit evaluation services including corporate bond ratings (회사채평가), commercial paper ratings (기업어음평가), short-term bond ratings (단기사채평가), issuer ratings, asset-backed securities ratings (자산유동화증권평가), insurance financial strength ratings, and project finance evaluations. Additional services include ESG financial certification (ESG 금융 인증평가), sustainability-linked finance certification, Korean Green Bond external review, school foundation ratings, stock valuation, restructuring evaluation, and fund ratings. The company is developing digital asset evaluation capabilities including won-backed stablecoin assessment methodologies. KIS-LINE provides comprehensive enterprise financial information. The company also operates KCW subscription services delivering credit ratings and research reports to financial institutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- KIS-LINE: Comprehensive corporate and financial information (KIS-LINE) service launched in 1988.
Products and services
- Corporate Bond Rating (회사채평가)
- Commercial Paper Rating (기업어음평가)
- Issuer Rating
- Short-term Bond Rating (단기사채평가)
- Asset-Backed Securities Rating (자산유동화증권평가)
- Insurance Financial Strength Rating (보험금지급능력평가)
- Project Finance Feasibility Rating (PF원리금상환능력평가)
- PF Loan Rating
- School Foundation Rating (학교법인평가)
- Stock Valuation (주식가치평가)
- Restructuring Evaluation (구조조정평가)
- Fund Rating (펀드평가)
- ESG Financial Certification (ESG 금융 인증평가)
- Sustainability-Linked Finance Certification (지속가능연계금융 인증평가)
- Korean Green Bond External Review (한국형 녹색채권 외부검토)
- KIS-LINE
- KCW Subscription Service
- Won-Backed Stablecoin Assessment System (디지털자산 평가 시스템)
- Corporate Credit Analysis Training Program (기업신용분석과정)
- ABS Credit Analysis Training Program (ABS 신용분석과정)
Quantifiable outcome
- KIS raised Kumho Tire's corporate credit rating by two notches to A+ with stable outlook, citing stronger earnings and reduced debt burden
Companies that use Korea Investors Service
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Korea Investors Service technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature2 records
Korea Investors Service partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves10 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Korea Investors Service competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- NICE Investors Service: Direct Korean credit rating agency competitor. Also provides corporate bond, CP, ABS, and issuer ratings for the Korean market, competing for the same ECAI-designated mandates from Korean issuers and institutional clients.
- Korea Ratings: One of the major Korean credit rating agencies, also ECAI-designated. Competes head-to-head with KIS for corporate bond ratings, structured finance ratings, and issuer ratings across Korean capital markets.
Regional players
- Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR): Japanese credit rating agency comparable to KIS as a domestic ECAI-equivalent provider in Japan. Similar product scope (corporate bonds, CP, structured finance) and comparable positioning as a regionally-rooted incumbent rating agency.
- Rating and Investment Information (R&I): Japanese credit rating agency with similar domestic-focused rating services. Comparable to KIS in business model (fee-based credit ratings, subscription research, ESG assessments) within a different geography.
Emerging players
- Egan-Jones Ratings: Independent NRSRO rating agency with focus on corporate, financial institution, and sovereign ratings. Comparable as a competitor in the ratings ecosystem serving institutional investors, though smaller and more specialized than KIS.
Broad incumbents
- Moody's Investors Service: KIS's parent organization and global rating agency. Operates Moody's global rating franchise and provides international rating services; KIS functions as its Korean local-market affiliate for domestic ratings and methodology.
- DBRS Morningstar: Global rating agency providing corporate, financial institution, and structured finance ratings. Comparable to KIS in core rating services with broader geographic footprint and asset class coverage.
- S&P Global Ratings: Global credit rating agency competing for cross-border ratings on Korean issuers and providing international benchmarks that institutional clients compare against KIS ratings. Broad incumbent operating across all asset classes globally.
- Fitch Ratings: Global credit rating agency that rates Korean issuers' international bonds and competes in the Korean market for cross-border and structured finance mandates alongside KIS.
Others
- Korean Investors Service for ESG and Sustainable Finance (KEIS): Related to Korea's credit information ecosystem that overlaps with KIS's ESG certification and sustainable finance external review services, including the Korean Green Taxonomy and green bond guidelines ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Korea Investors Service social profiles
Digital presenceKorea Investors Service financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Korea Investors Service leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Korea Investors Service funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Korea Investors Service M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Korea Investors Service
What does Korea Investors Service do?
Korea Investors Service (KIS) is Korea's first and longest-established credit rating agency, providing credit evaluation services for corporate bonds, commercial paper, short-term bonds, issuer ratings, asset-backed securities, insurance financial strength, project finance, school foundations, funds, stock valuation, and restructuring. The company also offers ESG financial certification, sustainability-linked finance certification, and Korean green bond external review services, alongside a paid KCW subscription research service and the KIS-LINE financial information platform serving banks, securities firms, insurance companies, asset managers, large corporates, and public enterprises.
Is Korea Investors Service a public or private company?
Korea Investors Service is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Korea Investors Service founded?
Korea Investors Service was founded in 1985. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Korea Investors Service based?
Korea Investors Service is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, in the Asia region.
How does Korea Investors Service make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Credit evaluation fees (corporate bonds, commercial paper, ABS) is the primary driver. The others are KCW subscription service.
Who are Korea Investors Service's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are NICE Investors Service and Korea Ratings. Regional players are Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) and Rating and Investment Information (R&I). Egan-Jones Ratings is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Moody's Investors Service, DBRS Morningstar, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings. Korean Investors Service for ESG and Sustainable Finance (KEIS) is listed as an others.
Does Korea Investors Service have an API?
No public API is recorded for Korea Investors Service.