AAA is the highest possible rating that may be assigned to an issuer’s bonds by any of the major credit-rating agencies. AAA-rated bonds have a high degree of creditworthiness because their issuers are easily able to meet financial commitments and have the lowest risk of default.
Rating agencies Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Fitch Ratings use the letters AAA to identify bonds with the highest credit quality, while Moody’s uses a slightly different Aaa to signify a bond’s top-tier credit rating.
- The highest possible rating that a bond may achieve is AAA, which is only bestowed upon those bonds that exhibit the highest levels of creditworthiness.
- This AAA rating is used by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, while Moody’s uses a similar Aaa lettering.
- Bonds that receive AAA ratings are viewed as the least likely to default.
- Issuers of AAA-rated bonds generally have no trouble finding investors, although the yield offered on these bonds is lower than other tiers because of the high credit rating.