Private credit ratings are purchased from small, unknown rating agencies with ~30 employees (including receptionists) that rate hundreds of loans with 200-250 page documents each, with no genuine analysis—effectively functioning as a price list where higher ratings cost more.

causalpending

Speaker

Jeff Gundlach

Evidence Quote

A lot of these firms have 30 employees, including the receptionist. And yet they're they're rating hundreds and hundreds of of of loans, each one with a 200 or 250 page document. So, I don't think they're really rating them. I think what they're doing is giving them a price list. You know, if if you want a a triple C rating it costs you a dollar. If you If you want a single B rating it's going to cost you $10 etc., and they somehow find their way to getting a a triple B minus rating on it.

Source

Jeffrey Gundlach and Felix Zulauf: The Second Inning of a Major ShiftDoubleLine Capital
Created: 8/12/2026, 6:25:56 PM

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