Moody’s has released a review of its key data-driven insights and innovations from 2025, highlighting major trends in banking, risk management, artificial intelligence, and insurance. The company reported that consumer loans now make up about one-third of US banks’ loan portfolios, making them central to bank profitability and growth. According to Moody’s analysis, strong household credit performance is crucial not only for bank earnings but also for the broader economy because consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of US GDP.
A recent survey conducted by Moody’s on artificial intelligence found that AI is rapidly changing the risk and compliance sector from a reactive to a proactive field. The study gathered input from 600 international risk and compliance professionals who are responsible for mitigating legal, ethical, and operational risks within their organizations.
Moody’s 2025 Cyber Survey indicated that many companies still lack formal governance policies for safe AI use in the workplace. This absence of rules increases the risk of data breaches as organizations continue adopting new AI tools.
In terms of corporate credit quality, Moody’s Asset Management Research team reported that the average default risk among US public companies reached 9.2% at the end of 2024—a post-financial crisis high—and is expected to remain elevated throughout 2025 despite positive economic indicators such as growth and labor market strength.
The insurance industry is facing new challenges as emerging risks reshape the landscape. These include increased costs associated with living in areas prone to natural disasters, wildfires spreading into new regions, vulnerabilities in older buildings, and evolving environmental threats.
Moody’s also emphasized how interconnected today’s risks have become—changing rapidly over short periods—which requires comprehensive data analytics across multiple teams within an organization. The company illustrated this point using global samples from its own risk datasets to show how frequently certain triggers occur within a typical day.
Another trend highlighted was the expansion of private credit lending by US banks. Private credit assets under management have tripled over the past decade due to regulatory changes following the financial crisis, shifting significant lending activity toward alternative asset managers.
US life insurers are adapting by moving nearly $800 billion in reserves offshore while increasingly investing in private assets; this comes as they manage $6 trillion in total assets amid industry transformation driven by private credit strategies.
The visual storytelling project was produced by Moody’s StoryLab team: Eric Fayad (Senior Digital Content & Brand Experience Strategist), Dan Grunebaum (Senior Digital Content & Brand Experience Strategist), Georges Corbineau (Lead Digital Content & Brand Experience Strategist), and Todd Lindeman (Vice President, Digital Content & Brand Experience).
