FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSISSUER COMMENT 11 MAY 2015AXA SA (AXA)Moodys Senior Unsecured Rating A2Moodys Outlook STABond-Implied Rating NACDS-Implied Rating Baa1EDF-Implied Rating B3As of 5/7/2015ANALYST CONTACTSAllerton G. Smith 212-553-4058 Sr Dir-Sr Research Analyst allerton.smith@moodys.comABOUT CAPITAL MARKETS RESEARCHAnalyses from Moodys Capital Markets Research, Inc. (CMR) focus on explaining signals from the credit and equity markets. The publications address whether market signals, in the opinion of the groups analysts, accurately reflect the risks and investment opportunities associated with issuers and sectors. CMR research thus complements the fundamentally-oriented research offered by Moodys Investors Service (MIS), the rating agency.CMR is part of Moodys Analytics, which is one of the two operating businesses of Moodys Corporation. Moodys Analytics (including CMR) is legally and organizationally separated from Moodys Investors Service and operates on an arms length basis from the ratings business. CMR does not provide investment advisory services or products.View the CMR FAQ Contact the CMR team Follow us on TwitterMoodys Analytics markets and distributes all Moodys Capital Markets Research, Inc. materials. Moodys Capital Markets Research, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moodys Corporation. Moodys Analytics does not provide investment advisory services or products. For further detail, please see the last page.Market Signals ReviewAXA SA: Implied Ratings Move in Narrow Range Over the past year the two market-implied ratings for AXA were relatively stable (Figure 1).The EDF'-implied rating was B3 a year ago. It fell to B2 several dates over the last year but subsequently returned to B3 where it remains today. Five years ago, the EDF-implied rating was Baa3. It fluctuated between a nadir of Caa2 in February 2013 and an apex of Baa3 in August of 2010 (Figure 2). The EDF-implied ratings gap is -10 notches, matching its level on May 7, 2014. During the year it rose a notch to -9, but could not sustain that advance on a consistent basis.FIGURE 1. AXA: MOODYS AND MARKET-IMPLIED RATINGS, LAST YEAR (DAILY DATA)MOODY'S ANALYTICS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS2 11 MAY 2015 MARKET SIGNALS REVIEW : AXA SA: IMPLIED RATINGS MOVE IN NARROW RANGEFIGURE 2. AXA: MOODYS AND MARKET-IMPLIED RATINGS, LAST FIVE YEARS (MONTHLY DATA)The CDS-implied rating is down two notches to Baa2 from Ba1 one year ago (Figure 1). It was Baa1 five years ago (Figure 2) and varied between a low point of Ba2 and a high point of A3 since then. Over the last 12 months, the CDS-implied ratings gap remained in a narrow band between -3 notches and -1 notch (Figure 3).FIGURE 3. AXA: MARKET-IMPLIED RATINGS GAPS, LAST YEAR (DAILY DATA)MOODY'S ANALYTICS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS3 11 MAY 2015 MARKET SIGNALS REVIEW : AXA SA: IMPLIED RATINGS MOVE IN NARROW RANGEReaders will recall that when a market-implied rating falls, the underlying securitie...
