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
Fitch Ratings affirmed the insurer financial strength ratings of six U.S. mutual life insurance companies following a group review.
The rating agency affirmed the AA+ insurer financial strength rating and the AA long-term issuer default rating of Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America. The AA+ insurer financial strength ratings of Guardian Insurance & Annuity Co. Inc. and Berkshire Life Insurance Co. of America were also affirmed.
The affirmation of Guardian Life Insurance's insurer financial strength rating reflects the company's very strong business profile, extremely strong risk-based capitalization, low operating leverage, high-quality investments and very strong operating results, Fitch said.
Fitch affirmed the AA+ insurer financial strength rating, the AA issuer default rating and the F1+ short-term issuer default rating of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. The AA+ insurer financial strength ratings of C.M. Life Insurance Co. and MML Bay State Life Insurance Co. were also affirmed.
The affirmation of MassMutual's insurer financial strength rating was driven by the company's very strong and improving business profile, strong risk management framework across its operations, modest profitability and extremely strong capitalization metrics, according to Fitch.
Fitch affirmed the AA+ insurer financial strength rating, the AA long-term issuer default rating and the F1+ short-term issuer default rating of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. The AA+ insurer financial strength rating of Thrivent Life Insurance Co. was also affirmed.
The affirmation of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' ratings considers the company's exceptionally strong capitalization and Fitch's expectation that the company will continue to maintain capital levels in excess of rating guidelines.
Fitch affirmed the AAA insurer financial strength rating and the AA+ long-term issuer default rating of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. The AAA insurer financial strength rating of Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Co. was also affirmed.
The rating agency said Northwestern Mutual's ratings take into account its exceptionally strong capitalization, leading competitive position in the U.S. individual life insurance market and conservative liability profile.
Fitch affirmed the AAA insurer financial strength rating, the AA+ long-term issuer default rating and the F1+ short-term issuer default rating of New York Life Insurance Co. The AAA insurer financial strength rating of New York Life Insurance & Annuity Corp. was also affirmed.
The affirmation of New York Life's ratings reflects the company's leading market position in the U.S. individual life insurance market, extremely strong capitalization and conservative operating profile, according to the rating agency.
Fitch affirmed the AAA insurer financial strength rating and the AA+ issuer default rating of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America. The AAA insurer financial strength rating of TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co. and the AA- issuer default ratings of Nuveen LLC and Nuveen Finance LLC were also affirmed.
Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association's ratings take into consideration the company's extremely strong capitalization, very stable liability profile, strong earnings and very strong competitive position in the U.S. pension market. Fitch said it affirmed the company's ratings because statutory surplus has continued to grow, investment losses are reasonable relative to expectations, capitalization continues to be extremely strong, and financial leverage remains within the rating agency's tolerance for the rating level.
The outlook on all ratings is stable.
Europe
Fitch affirmed U.K.-based Pension Insurance Corp. PLC's insurer financial strength rating at A+ and its long-term issuer default rating at A. The outlooks are stable.
The ratings reflect the company's strong position in the U.K. bulk annuity market. The company's strong profitability, very strong capitalization, low investment risk and very strong asset-liability management also support the ratings, Fitch said.
Asia-Pacific
S&P Global Ratings affirmed the A+ financial strength rating and long-term issuer credit rating of Tokyo-based AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd., an operating subsidiary of AIG Japan Holdings Kabushiki Kaisha, which is a non-operating holding subsidiary of American International Group Inc.
The outlook on AIG General Insurance was revised to stable from negative. The stable outlook reflects S&P Global Ratings' outlooks on the other core companies of the AIG group.
The affirmation comes after S&P Global Ratings' affirmations on AIG's other core companies and was based on the rating agency's assessment of the company's status within the AIG group.
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.
Links are current as of publication time; S&P Global Market Intelligence is not responsible if those links are unavailable later.