Three Different Types of Weiss Ratings

We provide three types of ratings:

Weiss Investment Ratings
These ratings onstocks, ETFs and mutual funds are in the same realm as “Buy,” “Sell” and “Hold” ratings. They are designed to help safety-seeking investors make more informed decisions. When using our investment ratings, you should always remember that, by definition, all investments involve some element of risk.

See full details of investment ratings and definitions here.

Weiss Crypto Ratings
These ratings on Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 coins and tokens are designed to help investors and users make more informed decisions with the goal of maximizing gains or benefits and minimizing risk. Since most crypto assets are new and experimental, they often tend to be more volatile than other asset classes.

See full details of crypto ratings and definitions here.

Weiss Safety Ratings
These ratings on banks, credit unions and insurance companies are similar in purpose to credit ratings, designed to help consumers find the best institutions to entrust with their savings, retirement funds or insurance premiums. The higher the rating, the more likely the institution will remain financially stable or strong in good times or bad.

See full details of safety ratings and definitions here.

Some financial institutions receive both Weiss Investment Ratings and Weiss Safety Ratings.

As common stocks: The shares of their holding companies, traded on major exchanges, receive a Weiss Investment Rating.

As financial institutions: Their financial viability, which can affect the security of deposits or insurance policies, receive a Weiss Safety Rating.

With JPMorgan Chase, for example, investors could view information about JPM shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange. At the same time, depositors or potential depositors could view JPMorgan’s bank safety rating.

These are two entirely different destinations for your money. As such, they merit entirely different kinds of ratings:

When deciding to buy, sell, hold or avoid their shares, refer to the Weiss Investment Rating.

When shopping for savings or checking accounts, refer to the Weiss Safety Rating.

The same holds true for insurance companies. For their shares, refer to the Weiss Investment Rating. For their insurance policies, refer to the Weiss Safety Rating.

All three types of Weiss Ratings — Investment Ratings (for stocks, ETFs and mutual funds), Crypto Ratings (for cryptocurrency coins and tokens) and Weiss Safety Ratings (for banks, credit unions and insurers) — use the same grade scale, as follows:

A = excellent
B = good
C = fair
D = weak
E = very weak

Plus sign (+): upper third of each grade
Minus sign (-): lower third of each grade

In addition, in certain industries, we may also use “F” for “Failed” and “U” for “Unrated” due to insufficient data.