Independent Credit View AG

What Independent Credit View AG does

Independent Credit View AG (I-CV) is a privately held Swiss credit research boutique founded in 2003 and headquartered in Zurich. The firm provides independent credit research, ratings, and credit risk monitoring services to institutional bond investors across Switzerland and the German-speaking European market. Its core offering is the Research Portal, an exclusive subscription-based platform that delivers proprietary credit research, issuer ratings, sector studies, and country analyses, supplemented by a suite of specialized analytical tools: the ESG Radar (covering 67,818 companies with structured ESG scoring and Swiss Climate Scores reporting), the CRA III Tool (counterparty credit risk assessment aligned with EU regulatory principles), the Relative Value Tool, and the Municipality Model (covering all Swiss cantons and over 98% of Swiss municipalities). The firm's value proposition centers on structural independence — explicitly "100% paid by investors" with no asset management activities and no issuer-paid mandates — to deliver conflict-free credit opinions and an early-warning system for credit quality shifts.

I-CV operates a modular, subscription-based business model combining recurring research portal subscriptions with professional advisory services including portfolio monitoring, risk check-ups, counterparty risk evaluation, and private debt analysis. Distribution is direct-to-institution with no resellers or marketplace channels; the Research Portal and ESG Radar are restricted to clients with signed agreements. The firm is also the organizer of the annual Swiss Bond Congress, now in its 12th edition and attracting over 120 participants representing several hundred billion CHF in assets under management, which serves as both a flagship marketing event and a primary client-engagement channel. A February 2021 strategic partnership with Remaco extends the firm's reach into the private debt asset class. The company is founder-managed with 11-50 employees, no disclosed external funding, and no parent company, operating as an independent Swiss stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft).

Name

Independent Credit View AG

Legal name

Independent Credit View AG

Website

https://i-cv.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Independent Credit View AG is a Swiss independent credit research boutique founded in 2003, providing institutional bond investors with subscription-based credit ratings, ESG scoring across 67,818 companies, and proprietary analytical tools for credit risk assessment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Credit Research & Ratings

NAICS

Activities Related to Credit Intermediation (5223), Credit Bureaus (561450)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Fairness Opinions & Independent Board Advice (FSAEAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Fairness Opinions & Independent Financial Advice (BPAHAOAF)

Keywords

• Credit research
• Bond analysis
• Credit ratings
• ESG scoring
• Portfolio monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Subscription Services: The Research Portal and ESG Radar are restricted to customers of I-CV who have entered into corresponding agreements. Services are provided on a subscription basis with modular offerings tailored to client needs in credit analysis and credit risk management.
2. Advisory and Consulting Services: Advisory services provided to professional bond investors for credit risk assessment and monitoring. These include risk check-ups, portfolio monitoring, and counterparty risk evaluation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Independent Credit View AG (I-CV) is an independent credit research boutique that provides institutional bond investors with credit risk assessment, ratings, and monitoring services since 2003. It delivers modular research subscriptions through its proprietary Research Portal and ESG Radar platforms, complemented by advisory services such as portfolio monitoring, counterparty risk evaluation, and risk check-ups, with coverage of sovereigns, banks, corporates, and Swiss municipalities.

Product overview

Independent Credit View AG operates a modular platform architecture combining a core Research Portal with specialized tools (ESG Radar, CRA III Tool, Relative Value Tool, Municipality Model) and advisory services. The company provides independent credit research and ratings services to professional bond investors since 2003, focusing on credit risk assessment, portfolio monitoring, and ESG evaluation across sovereigns, banks, corporates, and Swiss municipalities. The product portfolio includes services such as Ratings & Credit Research, Private Debt Analysis, Portfolio Monitoring, Risk Check-up, Advisory, and Counterparty Risk Monitoring, supported by published Credit Insights and the annual Swiss Bond Congress event.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Portal

Quantifiable outcome

• Saved the Stadtkasse Münster millions of euros through early analysis of Greensill Bank risk in 2019
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• RemacominorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2021I-CV and Remaco announced a collaboration in Private Debt in February 2021. The partnership focused on providing analysis and expertise in the Private Debt asset class for investors, combining I-CV's credit research capabilities with Remaco's private debt investment services.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• S&P Global Ratings: One of the three dominant global credit rating agencies; the most direct incumbent against I-CV's credit ratings and research franchise for institutional bond investors in Switzerland, Europe, and globally.
• MSCI ESG Research: Global provider of ESG ratings, climate data, and sustainable investing research — the dominant institutional incumbent in the ESG/data category that I-CV's ESG Radar competes in, with broader asset-class and geographic coverage.
• Fitch Ratings: Third of the dominant global CRAs, including a dedicated Sustainable Fitch ESG ratings arm that overlaps with I-CV's ESG Radar. Broad incumbent competitor in the same institutional bond-investor customer base.
• S&P Global Market Intelligence: Sells credit research, fundamental data, and analytics (including the former CreditSights, BMI Research, SNL) to buy-side credit investors. Overlaps with I-CV's Research Portal and analytic tool offering as a broader portfolio versus I-CV's boutique focus.
• Moody's Ratings: One of the three globally dominant credit rating agencies, issuing sovereign, bank, corporate, and sub-national ratings consumed by the same institutional investors I-CV serves. Comparable product category (issuer credit opinions) but vastly broader coverage and scale; positions it as the benchmark incumbents that smaller boutiques must differentiate against.
• Bloomberg Intelligence: Independent research arm of Bloomberg providing credit and industry analysis to terminal subscribers. Reaches the same institutional bond investor audience via a fundamentally different distribution model (bundled inside the Bloomberg terminal).
• Sustainalytics: Independent ESG and corporate governance research firm (part of Morningstar) supplying ESG risk ratings to institutional investors — directly comparable to ESG Radar's coverage model and customer base.

Direct peers

• CreditSights: Independent credit research firm (now under S&P Global) delivering in-depth analysis on corporate, sovereign, and bank issuers to institutional buy-side investors — the closest functional analogue to I-CV's Ratings & Credit Research offering, with similar subscription-based delivery to bond portfolio managers.

Others

• Bureau van Dijk (Moody's): Provides comprehensive private company financials and credit information, including sub-sovereign and corporate coverage used by institutional credit analysts. Functions more as an upstream data supplier that supports credit analysis workflows comparable to I-CV's Research Portal and Municipality Model products.

Emerging players

• AlphaSense: AI-powered market intelligence platform aggregating external research, broker reports, and filings for institutional investors. An emerging substitute for traditional credit research subscriptions, particularly relevant as a potential disruptor to I-CV's research distribution model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/independent-credit-view-ag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Independent Credit View AG