The PRS Group

What The PRS Group does

The PRS Group, Inc. is a privately held, quant-driven geopolitical and country risk rating firm founded in 1979 and headquartered in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (with a New York State entity in Liverpool, NY). The company builds and maintains the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), a 45+ year data series covering 141 countries with over 30 political, economic, and financial risk metrics published monthly alongside 27 statistical tables on macroeconomic indicators. PRS monetizes primarily via subscription access to ICRG data and derived products through its epub.prsgroup.com storefront and direct enterprise sales; complementary revenue comes from specialized data bundles (ESG, corruption, conflict), probabilistic scenario forecasts (CREF) over 18-month and 5-year horizons, a Private Client Advantage advisory tier, the 'Quid Periculum?' academic publication, and a recently introduced 'PRS Geopolitical Artificial Intelligence' product layer developed with academic partners. Its customer base spans central banks (Bank of Canada, ECB, BIS, Bundesbank, Banca d'Italia, Bank of Greece, Banco de España, Central Bank of Nigeria, Banco Central del Ecuador, Banco Central del Paraguay), multilateral organizations (IMF, World Bank, BIS, WTO), sovereign and institutional investors with $20T+ aggregate AUM (Franklin Templeton, GMO, Vontobel, AP Fonden), multinational corporates (Accenture, BMW, Fifth Third Bank), and academic institutions (MIT, Transparency International). The firm is owner-operated by CEO Christopher McKee, PhD, operates with 11–50 employees, and has no disclosed external funding rounds or parent ownership.

Name

The PRS Group

Legal name

The PRS Group, Inc.

Website

https://prsgroup.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The PRS Group, founded in 1979, produces the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), a quant-driven geopolitical and country risk data series covering 141 countries over 45+ years, sold on subscription to central banks, multilateral organizations, sovereign and institutional investors, multinational corporations, and academic institutions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Geopolitical Risk Data and Analytics

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Prudential & Market Risk Management (VaR, Stress, Limits) (FSACAJAF)

Keywords

• Country risk ratings
• Political risk data
• Geopolitical forecasting
• Sovereign risk analysis
• Risk data subscriptions

Headquarters

HQ city

East Syracuse

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Data Subscriptions: Subscription-based access to ICRG data products including monthly risk ratings, country reports, and economic forecasts for 141 countries
2. Specialized Data Bundles: Granularized data products covering corruption, ESG, conflict, investment risk, and other specific risk categories
3. Academic Publications: Revenue from book publications including 'Quid Periculum? Measuring & Managing Political Risk in the Age of Uncertainty'

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The PRS Group produces and sells quantitative geopolitical and country risk ratings and forecasts for 141 countries, anchored by its flagship International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) data series. Its offerings include subscription-based data products, probabilistic regime-scenario forecasts, AI-enhanced geopolitical analytics, specialized risk data bundles, and individualized analytical services for institutional clients such as central banks, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, governments, and multinational corporations.

Product overview

The PRS Group offers a portfolio of interconnected geopolitical risk products centered around the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), the company's flagship rating system covering 141 countries with over 30 political, economic, and financial risk metrics. The core ICRG product is complemented by CountryData Online (CDO) for data access, Country Reports & Economic Forecasts (CREF) for scenario forecasting, and PRS Geopolitical Artificial Intelligence for AI-enhanced analytics. Additional offerings include specialized ICRG Data Bundles for ESG, corruption, and conflict metrics, Private Client Advantage (PCA) for individualized service, and the Quid Periculum? academic publication. The portfolio uses a platform-plus-modules architecture where ICRG serves as the foundational data source feeding into all downstream analytical products and services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ICRG (International Country Risk Guide): The company's flagship geopolitical risk rating system covering political, economic, and financial risk metrics for 141 countries with 45+ years of data history.
• CountryData Online (CDO)
• Country Reports & Economic Forecasts (CREF)
• PRS Geopolitical Artificial Intelligence
• ICRG Data Bundles
• Private Client Advantage (PCA)
• Quid Periculum

Products and services

• International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) The flagship geopolitical risk rating product offering a 45+ year data series with over 30 political, economic, and financial risk metrics monitored daily and published monthly for 141 countries, accompanied by 27 statistical tables on GDP growth, inflation, fiscal and current accounts, external liquidity, and exchange rate stability. Targeted at institutional investors, central banks, governments, and multinational corporations.
• CountryData Online (CDO) An online data delivery platform providing access to over 7 million geopolitical risk data points across the world's longest running geopolitical risk series, designed for institutional clients needing historical and current country risk datasets.
• Country Reports & Economic Forecasts (CREF) Probabilistic regime scenario forecasts over 18-month and 5-year horizons that are independently back-tested for accuracy, used by institutional clients for investment planning and policy analysis.
• PRS Geopolitical Artificial Intelligence AI-enhanced geopolitical risk analytics and insights delivered in collaboration with academic institutions, providing advanced geopolitical intelligence for institutional decision-makers.
• ICRG Data Bundles Granularized data bundles covering corruption, ESG, conflict, and investment risk metrics for specialized analytical needs, allowing clients to subscribe to focused risk datasets.
• Private Client Advantage (PCA) Enhanced geopolitical risk analysis service providing more nuanced and individualized risk assessments for private institutional clients with bespoke analytical requirements.
• Quid Periculum? Academic publication featuring research findings and perspectives from leading scholars and practitioners in political risk measurement and management, sold as a book.

Quantifiable outcome

• A 10-point deterioration in ICRG political risk rating correlates with 106-basis-point surge in emerging market debt spreads
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers24 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• RepRiskcoreTechnology or IntegrationRepRisk, the Swiss-based pioneer and leader in ESG data science, uses ICRG as the sole source of geopolitical data inputs into their risk products. This integration brings together PRS's political risk expertise with ESG data science applications.
• Academic Institutions (MIT, European University Institute)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing partnerships with leading universities for research collaboration, AI development, and data validation. PRS is developing AI platforms in collaboration with academic institutions.
• Central Banks and Multilateral OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegular featured research in IMF Working Papers, BIS publications, and various central bank research efforts. Data used as inputs for external sector assessments and policy analysis.
• JP Morgan Global Index Research GroupsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsultation and data partnership discussions for integrating political risk data with financial index research.
• Business Schools (North American and European)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage discussions with leading business schools to create unique AI/data-driven geopolitical sector offerings that benefit both academics and firms. Includes partnerships with SKEMA Business School (Paris) and Graziadio Business School (Pepperdine).

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eurasia Group: Eurasia Group is a leading geopolitical risk advisory firm serving institutional investors, corporations, and governments with political risk analysis, directly comparable to PRS's investor-focused geopolitical intelligence offering.
• Verisk Maplecroft: Verisk Maplecroft produces country risk indices, political risk data, and ESG analytics across global jurisdictions, directly competing with ICRG's quantitative country risk ratings.
• Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): The EIU provides country risk ratings, economic forecasts, and political analysis to institutional clients across global markets, directly comparable to PRS's ICRG and CREF products.
• BMI (Fitch Solutions): BMI, now part of Fitch Solutions, produces country risk reports, forecasts, and industry analysis across global emerging and developed markets, directly competing with PRS's research and data products.
• Control Risks: Control Risks delivers political and security risk advisory, country risk intelligence, and consulting to multinational corporations and financial institutions, overlapping with PRS's corporate and investor offerings.
• Coface: Coface is a trade credit insurer that produces country risk assessments and political risk ratings used by exporters and banks, directly comparable to PRS's country risk data for trade credit use cases.
• Credendo: Credendo provides country risk assessments, political risk analysis, and trade credit insurance across global markets, directly comparable to PRS's country risk rating services for institutional buyers.

Broad incumbents

• S&P Global Market Intelligence: S&P Global Market Intelligence offers sovereign and country risk data as part of its broader financial data platform, overlapping with PRS's investor-focused offerings but as one product within a much wider portfolio.
• Moody's: Moody's produces country risk and sovereign credit ratings as part of its broader ratings and analytics franchise, overlapping with PRS's institutional investor and central bank use cases.

Emerging players

• RepRisk: RepRisk is an ESG data science firm that integrates PRS's ICRG as its sole geopolitical data source, making it both a partner and a thematic adjacent provider in the broader environmental, social, and political risk data category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/prs_group
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC6f8oUa1ATP0bSSeoM89Ukw/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/PRSGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/239840
• Instagraminstagram.com/theprsgroup

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The PRS Group