I think you are focusing on level. Early on in my financial career I was told to always look at level and trend. So level is the FICO score. It is a measure of risk. So that level is spread across grades. So what about trend?
Other than payment, FICO is the only variable that updates. If the loans were regraded each month, this would likely be more predictive. But given its all that we have, what information does the trend convey? I believe it conveys how risk has changed since the loan was made. Credit scores have a monthly standard deviation of like 20 points IIRC. I only care about trends outside this normal range. And I believe it conveys very meaningful information, especially for debt consolidation loans, both in the first few months (showing evidence funds were used as disclosed) and over the life as the borrower goes delinquent on other debts, takes new debts out, etc.
I made my initial decision based on a level of risk. If that risk is gotten worse, then there is a chance the yield is no longer good enough. If I was presented with that loan today, would I still make it? If the answer is no, that loan is sold without hesitation.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk