The Credit Conversation
The Epic Story of Bonds - and the Next Chapter of Credit
The market that built the modern world. And what it builds next.
The bond market has quietly funded the modern world - from the canals of medieval Venice to today's AI data centers. It is now larger than the stock market, rivals the global banking system in influence, and is once again reshaping itself before our eyes.
This edition of the Credit Conversation brings that story to life. Dr. Atsi Sheth, Chief Credit Officer at Moody's Ratings, sits down with Robin Wigglesworth, the Financial Times' global finance correspondent and author of A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World - his sweeping new history of the bond market, published this September.
Together, they will explore what eight centuries of credit history reveal about the decade ahead — how markets reinvent themselves, how public and private credit are converging, and the role of independent credit opinions as the world's largest market evolves. No retreading familiar ground: expect new data, surprising history, and an open exchange with the room.
The session will open with a moderated conversation, followed by extended discussion with participants, creating space for direct exchange among the group.
A drinks reception - and signed copies of A Fabulous Debt - will follow.
Agenda
Welcome
Opening Remarks from Michael West
A decade of Credit Strategy & Standards
Fireside Chat
Atsi Sheth in conversation with Robin Wigglesworth
Audience Q&A
Cocktail Reception & Book Signing
Speakers
Michael West
Chief Executive Officer
Moody's Ratings
Dr. Atsi Sheth
Chief Credit Officer, Head of Credit Strategy & Standards
Moody's Ratings
Robin Wigglesworth
Alphaville Editor
Venue
Moody's Offices | 7 WTC, 52nd Floor
New York
NY
United States
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Mr. West has served as President of Moody’s Ratings since November 2019. Mike served as Managing Director—Head of MIS Ratings and Research from June 2016 to October 2019. Previously, Mike served as Managing Director—Head of Global Structured Finance from February 2014 to May 2016 and Managing Director—Head of Global Corporate Finance from January 2010 to January 2014. Earlier in his career, Mike was also responsible for the research strategy for the ratings businesses and before that led Corporate Finance for the EMEA Region, European Corporates and the EMEA leveraged finance business. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1998, Mike worked at Bank of America and HSBC in various credit roles.
Atsi Sheth is Chief Credit Officer and Head of Credit Strategy & Standards at Moody's Ratings.
Prior to her appointment in 2024, she held several leadership roles at Moody's, including Managing Director and Global Head of Credit Strategy and Research from 2021 to 2024.
She also served as Managing Director, Chief Credit Officer for the Americas from 2018 to 2021, and Managing Director, Sovereign Risk Group from 2016 to 2018.
Atsi is a long-time champion of Moody's Community Impact and Inclusion initiatives. She serves on the Board of Moody's Foundation and was the Executive Sponsor of the Pan Asian Impact Business Resource Group.
Earlier in her career, Atsi was the Chief Economist at Reliance Capital and taught courses on International Political Economy and Emerging Markets at Columbia University and Northwestern University.
Atsi has a PhD from Northwestern University and a B.A. from Bombay University.
Robin Wigglesworth is the editor of Alphaville, the FT's award-winning financial blog. From Oslo, Norway he leads a team of writers in London and New York that dig into the most fascinating aspects of markets, investing, finance, business and the global economy.
He is the author of Trillions: How a Band of Wall Street Renegades Invented the Index Fund and Changed Finance Forever, a book on the past, present and future of passive investing; and A Fabulous Debt: The Epic Story of How Bonds Built the Modern World, on the vivid history of fixed income, from the Venetians to the present day.
Robin is also co-host of the FT’s financial history podcast The Story of Money, alongside Gillian Tett, which explores the great events of finance that still shape our world today.