| Type | Private Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consulting International Affairs Political Risk Analysis Country Risk Forecasts |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Headquarters | East Syracuse, NY, USA |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | CountryData, PRS, ICRG |
| Owner(s) | Christopher Mckee, Ph.D. |
| Website | Official Website Official Blog Facebook Page LinkedIn Company Profile |
The PRS Group, Inc., headquartered near Syracuse, New York, was established in 1979, placing it among the earliest commercial providers of political and country risk forecasts. In 2010, The PRS Group, Inc. was purchased[1] by Chair/CEO Christopher McKee, Ph.D., who maintains operations for the company and also holds the position of ICRG Editor-in-Chief. Originally the Political Risk Services division of Frost & Sullivan, Inc. and then of UK-based IBC Group (now known as Informa), the company kept its original focus on political risk analysis and became independent in 1999. Cited in 2008 as a “leading organization in investment risk analysis”[2] by investor Jim Rogers, the PRS Group offers two distinct, independent, publicly available methodologies for assessing risk: Political Risk Services (PRS) and the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG). The company produces a range of products based on these two risk rating systems. Online subscriptions to PRS’ products cover over 160 developed, emerging and frontier markets. With a quantitative focus to all of its risk ratings and forecasts, the firm assesses the impact of country and political risk on multinational business operations and on the major asset classes.
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Generally recognized worldwide as the original system for quantifying and rating political risk, the forecasting model used by Political Risk Services was formulated during 20 years of research conducted by Professors Bill Coplin and Michael O’Leary of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University[3][4], with the U.S. Dept. of State and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Each of the 100 Country Reports includes an evaluation of the current risk of doing business in a given country. Eighteen-month and five-year forecasts of 17 risk factors affecting a country’s business climate are provided, for each of the three most likely regimes to hold power in the respective time frame. Each report contains ten years of historical economic data, and information on the people, parties, and organizations most likely to influence the level of political risk in that country.
Cited as “the only risk rating agency to provide detailed and consistent monthly data over an extended period for a large number of countries,”[5] ICRG rates 140 countries each month on the basis of over 40 risk metrics affecting political, economic and financial risk, dating back to 1984 for most.
Studies by researchers have found ICRG data to be positively correlated to better International Monetary Fund program implementation, lower sovereign spreads, and with variability in bank lending volume. Others have found ICRG data to “provide information that has great predictive value with respect to future equity returns globally,”[6] and offers a “reliable, consistent, and valid measure of property rights protection.”[7]