S&P Global Market Intelligence compiles ratings actions in the insurance space daily through 5 p.m. ET. Actions after 5 p.m. ET will be included in the following day's roundup.
U.S. and Canada
A.M. Best affirmed the financial strength ratings of A and the long-term issuer credit ratings of "a" of Starr International Co. Inc.'s insurance subsidiaries. The ratings actions apply to the members of Starr International Group and Starr Insurance & Reinsurance Ltd.
The members of Starr International Group are Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., Starr Specialty Insurance Co. and Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Co. The members of Starr Insurance & Reinsurance include Starr Property & Casualty Insurance (China) Co. Ltd., Starr International Insurance (Asia) Ltd., Starr International Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Starr International (Europe) Ltd. and Starr Europe Insurance Ltd.
The outlook of the ratings is stable.
The ratings of Starr International Group's members reflect their balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as their marginal operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The ratings of Starr Insurance & Reinsurance and its members reflect their balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as their marginal operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
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A.M. Best upgraded the financial strength ratings to A+ from A and the long-term issuer credit ratings to "aa-" from "a+" for Concord Group Insurance Cos.'s members, Concord General Mutual Insurance Co., Green Mountain Insurance Co. Inc., State Mutual Insurance Co. , Sunapee Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and Vermont Accident Insurance Co. Inc. The outlook was revised to stable from positive.
The ratings of the group reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The rating actions reflect the group's strategic position within the Auto-Owners Insurance Group organization, as well as the significant operating and financial benefits it has realized as a result of its affiliation with Auto-Owners.
Concurrently, the rating agency upgraded the financial strength ratings to A from A- and the long-term issuer credit ratings to "a" from "a-" of California Capital Insurance Co. and its subsidiaries, Eagle West Insurance Co., Monterey Insurance Co. and Nevada Capital Insurance Co. The outlook of these ratings is stable.
The ratings reflect the companies' balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as their marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
In addition, A.M. Best revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the A financial strength rating and the "a+" long-term issuer credit rating of Atlantic Casualty Insurance Co.
Atlantic Casualty's ratings reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The agency also affirmed the financial strength ratings of A++ and the long-term issuer credit ratings of "aa+" of Auto-Owners Insurance Co. Inc. and its property and casualty subsidiaries, Home-Owners Insurance Co., Owners Insurance Co., Property-Owners Insurance Co. and Southern-Owners Insurance Co. The outlook is stable.
The ratings reflect the companies' balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as their very strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
At the same time, the A- financial strength rating and the "a-" long-term issuer credit rating of Auto-Owners Specialty Insurance Co. and the A+ financial strength rating and the "aa-" long-term issuer credit rating of Auto-Owners Life Insurance Co. were affirmed. The outlook of the ratings is stable.
The ratings of Auto-Owners Specialty Insurance reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The ratings of Auto-Owners Life Insurance reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
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A.M. Best affirmed the A financial strength rating and the "a+" long-term issuer credit rating of Gerber Life Insurance Co.
The rating agency also affirmed the A+ financial strength ratings and the "aa" long-term issuer credit ratings of Western & Southern Financial Group's life insurance subsidiaries, Western & Southern Life Insurance Co., Western-Southern Life Assurance Co., Columbus Life Insurance Co., Integrity Life Insurance Co., National Integrity Life Insurance Co. and its affiliate, Lafayette Life Insurance Co.
The outlooks are stable.
The ratings of Western & Southern Financial Group's subsidiaries reflect their balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as their strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
Gerber Life's ratings reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
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A.M. Best placed under review with negative implications the financial strength rating of A and the long-term issuer credit ratings of "a+" of Metropolitan Property & Casualty Insurance Co. and its fully reinsured subsidiaries, Economy Fire & Casualty Co., Economy Preferred Insurance Co., Economy Premier Assurance Co., Metropolitan Casualty Insurance Co., Metropolitan Direct Property and Casualty Insurance Co., Metropolitan General Insurance Co., Metropolitan Lloyds Insurance Co. of Texas and Metropolitan Group Property and Casualty Insurance Co.
The ratings actions follow the announcement that MetLife, Inc. agreed to sell Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance and certain wholly owned subsidiaries to Farmers Group Inc. for $3.94 billion in cash.
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A.M. Best downgraded the financial strength rating to B++ from A- and the long-term issuer credit rating to "bbb+" from "a-" of Tower Hill Prime Insurance Co. The outlook of the financial strength rating was revised to stable from negative, while the outlook of the long-term issuer credit rating is negative.
The ratings reflect Tower Hill Prime's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The downgrade reflects significant volatility in underwriting performance that has resulted in operating performance that no longer supports the adequate assessment.
The negative outlook on the long-term issuer credit rating reflects an unfavorable trend in risk-adjusted capitalization, as well as elevated reinsurance dependency and continued adverse loss reserve development.
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A.M. Best affirmed the B+ financial strength ratings and "bbb-" long-term issuer credit ratings of Nassau Life Insurance Co., Nassau Life & Annuity Co., Nassau Life Insurance Co. of Kansas and Nassau Life Insurance Co. of Texas. The rating agency also affirmed the "b+" long-term issuer credit rating of Nassau Companies of New York.
The ratings of the group reflect its statutory balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The rating agency affirmed the financial strength rating of B and the long-term issuer credit rating of "bb" of PHL Variable Insurance Co., and withdrew the ratings as the company has requested to no longer participate in the A.M. Best's interactive rating process.
The outlook of all of these credit rating is negative, reflecting considerable operating losses at PHL Variable and the utilization of excess capital for the recent acquisition of Foresters Financial Holding Company Inc. and Foresters Life Insurance & Annuity Co., which negatively impacted the capitalization and financial flexibility of parent Nassau Financial Group LP.
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S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Alera Group Intermediate Holdings Inc. to stable from negative and affirmed the B long-term issuer credit rating.
The outlook revision is based on Alera's relatively steady performance so far through the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the rating agency's expectation that its credit metrics will support the current rating through 2021.
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S&P Global Ratings placed the A issuer credit and financial strength ratings on Farmers Insurance Exchange and Farmers' core operating subsidiaries on CreditWatch with negative implications after the news that Farmers Group is acquiring MetLife's auto and home business for $3.94 billion.
The entities are Truck Insurance Exchange, Texas Farmers Insurance Co., Mid-Century Insurance Co. of Texas, Mid-Century Insurance Co., Illinois Farmers Insurance Co., Foremost Signature Insurance Co., Foremost Property & Casualty Insurance Co., Foremost Insurance Co. Grand Rapids Michigan, Foremost County Mutual Insurance Co., Fire Insurance Exchange, Farmers Texas County Mutual Insurance Co., Farmers Insurance Hawaii Inc., Farmers Insurance Co. of Washington, Farmers Insurance Co. of Oregon, Farmers Insurance Co. of Idaho, Farmers Insurance of Columbus Inc., Farmers Insurance Co. of Arizona, Farmers Insurance Co. Inc., Farmer's Exchange Capital, American Federation Insurance Co., 21st Century Superior Insurance Co., 21st Century Security Insurance Co., 21st Century Premier Insurance Co., 21st Century Preferred Insurance Co., 21st Century Pinnacle Insurance Co., 21st Century Pacific Insurance Co., 21st Century North America Insurance Co., 21st Century Insurance Co. of the Southwest, 21st Century Insurance Co., 21st Century Indemnity Insurance Co., 21st Century Centennial Insurance Co., 21st Century Casualty Co. and 21st Century Advantage Insurance Co.
The ratings action considers the already limited capital base and sizable contribution from Farmers Insurance Exchanges to fund the purchase.
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S&P Global Ratings lowered the issuer credit rating to BB+ from BBB- on Ohio National Financial Services Inc.
The rating agency also lowered the issuer credit and insurer financial strength ratings to BBB+ from A- on Ohio National Life Assurance Corp. and Ohio National Life Insurance Co.
At the same time, the rating agency withdrew the ratings following Ohio National's request to terminate its ratings agreement with S&P Global Ratings. The outlook was stable at the time of withdrawal.
The downgrade reflects the rating agency's reassessment of Ohio National's financial risk profile and prospective view of capital and earnings to satisfactory from strong.
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A.M. Best revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of A and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a" of EMC Reinsurance Co.
The ratings reflect the company's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The negative outlooks represent the rating agency's concerns with recent underwriting performance, particularly in the face of numerous significant catastrophe events in recent years.
At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the financial strength rating of A and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a+" of Employers Mutual Casualty Co. and its property and casualty subsidiaries, Dakota Fire Insurance Co., EMC Property & Casualty Co., EMCASCO Insurance Co., Illinois EMCASCO Insurance Co. and Union Insurance Co. of Providence. The outlook of all the credit ratings is stable.
The companies' ratings reflect their balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
Additionally, A.M. Best affirmed the financial strength rating of A- and the long-term issuer credit rating of "a-" of EMC National Life Co. The outlook is stable.
The ratings reflect the company's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
Europe
A.M. Best affirmed the financial strength rating of B and the long-term issuer credit rating of "bb+" of Folgate Insurance Co. Ltd.
The ratings reflect Folgate's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as adequate, as well as its adequate operating performance, very limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The outlook of the financial strength rating is stable. The outlook was revised to negative from stable for the long-term issuer credit rating, reflecting pressures on the company's balance sheet strength assessment stemming from deteriorating risk-adjusted capitalization.
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A.M. Best affirmed the financial strength ratings of A and the long-term issuer credit ratings of "a+" of Grupo Catalana Occidente SA's subsidiaries, Seguros Catalana Occidente SA, Bilbao Compañía Anónima de Seguros y Reaseguros SA and Plus Ultra Seguros Generales y Vida S.A. de Seguros y Reaseguros. The outlook of the credit ratings is stable.
The ratings of Seguros Catalana Occidente reflect its balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also reflect lift from the parent, which considers the strategic importance of the traditional insurance business to the Grupo Catalana Occidente group and the track record of financial and operational support from the parent.
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A.M. Best affirmed the financial strength ratings of A and the long-term issuer credit ratings of "a+" of Atradius NV's subsidiaries, Atradius Crédito y Caución S.A. de Seguros y Reaseguros, Atradius Reinsurance Designated Activity Co., Atradius Trade Credit Insurance Inc. and Atradius Seguros de Crédito SA. The outlook remains stable.
The ratings reflect Atradius' balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings of the subsidiaries consider their strategic importance to Atradius as its primary underwriting entities in the group's key markets around the world.
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Fitch Ratings affirmed the A long-term issuer default rating and A+ insurer financial strength rating of BUPA Insurance Ltd. and the A- long-term issuer default rating and F2 short-term issuer default rating of Bupa Finance PLC. The outlooks are stable.
The affirmation reflects Bupa's very strong capitalization and leverage as well as its strong business profile and financial performance. However, the group's ratings are constrained by the concentration of earnings in private medical insurance and associated businesses, the rating agency said.
Asia-Pacific
Moody's affirmed the A2 insurance financial strength rating of CCB Life Insurance Co. Ltd., with a stable outlook.
The affirmation considers the insurer's strong distribution capabilities by leveraging its strong brand name and vast network.
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
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