Moody's Investors Service into a separate publicly traded company. The spin-off was completed on September 30, 2000. Moody's Investors Service Moody's Investors Service is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody's Investors Service rates debt securities in several market segments related to public and commercial securities in the bond market. These include government, municipal and corporate bonds; managed investments such as money market funds, fixed-income funds and hedge funds; financial institutions including banks and non-bank finance companies; and asset classes in structured finance. Moody's Investors Service's closest competitors are Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Fitch Group. Together, they are sometimes referred to as the Big Three credit rating agencies. Moody's Investors Service and its close competitors play a key role in global capital markets as a supplementary credit analysis provider for banks and other financial institutions in assessing the credit risk of particular securities. According to Moody's, the purpose of its ratings is to "provide investors with a simple system of gradation by which future relative creditworthiness of securities may be gauged". To each of its ratings from Aaa through Caa, Moody's appends numerical modifiers 1, 2 and 3; the lower the number, the higher-end the rating. Aaa, Ca and C are not modified this way. Moody's Analytics Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation established in 2007 to focus on non-rating activities. It performs economic research related to credit analysis, performance management, financial modeling, structured analysis and financial risk management. Moody's Analytics also offers software and consulting services, including proprietary economic models and software tools, as well as professional training for the financial services sector, particularly risk management accreditation. Moody's Analytics started in 1995 as a business unit providing quantitative analysis services, including credit risk assessment software and services, called Moody's Risk Management Service (MRMS), and grew through partnerships and acquisitions in the late 1990s and 2000s, expanding its client base and capabilities. Acquisitions included KMV, Economy.com, Wall Street Analytics, Fermat International, Enb Consulting Ltd., The Institute of Risk Standards and Qualifications (iRSQ), CSI Global Education Inc., and Bureau van Dijk. The Moody's Foundation In 2002, Moody's Corporation created a corporate philanthropy program, The Moody's Foundation, focused on educational initiatives in mathematics, economics and finance. The organization offers grants to 501(c)(3) non-profits and equivalent international organizations, accredited schools and some governmental organizations. Since 2006, its