QuickScore

RiskMetrics Group's QuickScore earnings quality model provides a proprietary quantitative earnings quality ranking for over 12,500 publicly traded firms globally. The model universe includes over 6,000 in North America and more than 6,500 companies in the European, Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific regions. Originally developed with three Wharton accounting professors, the backtested methodology measures the more discretionary, non-cash component of a company's earnings, which tends to be less reliable and less persistent than earnings supported by cash flows. Companies at higher QuickScore risk levels are more likely to report disappointing results, restate earnings, and face regulatory enforcement action and class action law suits. At the other end of the spectrum, the model effectively highlights companies with understated earnings potential that are more likely to outperform peers and the broad market, and represent lower restatement and litigation risk. The QuickScore model, combined with RiskMetrics Group's best-in-class research offerings and global team of analysts provides clients with the industry’s broadest and most in-depth forensic financial statement research and analysis on the market.

How the QuickScore model can help you:

• Company-Specific Insight - For companies where we do not have in-depth published research, QuickScore provides an indication of earnings quality risk. An initial drill-down will lead the analyst to the factors driving a high or low risk ranking, and the QuickScore diagnostic presents  key metrics for further trend and peer analysis in an easy to read tear-sheet.
• Screening / Idea Generation - The QuickScore web interface provides for multi-factor screening to identify companies with high or low risk profiles by country, market cap range, industry, and the specific drivers of risk. The model universe, including decile rankings can always be downloaded to Excel for use in any database environment.
• Portfolio Monitoring - Entering a portfolio into the interface allows a manager to view a risk snapshot of its holdings, with drill-down features to get more insight into the nature of earnings quality risk at a specific firm. Subscribers to RiskMetrics Group's premium bespoke research service can request a custom review of high risk companies.
• Macro Risk Insight - Each quarter, RiskMetrics Group publishes a QuickScore roundup, highlighting industries and countries that have emerged as higher (or lower) risk versus historical norms, as well as the performance of the model, and a summary of companies in the high and low risk deciles.