Global credit ratings agency AM Best has confirmed that it has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICRs of “bbb” (Good) of Nassau Life Insurance Company, Nassau Life and Annuity Company and Nassau Life Insurance Company of Kansas.
Best noted that the outlook of the FSR is stable.
Collectively these organisations are referred to as the Nassau Insurance Group (Nassau).
As well as this, the agency has also revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “bb” (Fair) of The Nassau Companies of New York, Inc., along with the businesses Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IRs).
Best explained that the ratings reflect Nassau’s balance sheet strength, which the agency assesses as strong.
The agency also cited Nassau’s marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
Importantly, Best highlighted that the revision of the Long-Term ICR outlook to positive from stable reflects recent improvements that have been seen in Nassau’s operating earnings, driven by favorable alternative investment income and mortality experience, as well as inorganic earnings from recent acquisitions.
In addition, the agency explained that the positive Long-Term ICR outlook further recognises their expectation that the group’s operating performance will continue to benefit from management’s underwriting discipline, as well as improvements in scale and business mix while maintaining an overall strong balance sheet strength assessment.
Furthermore, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), Nassau’s risk-adjusted capitalization is expected to remain at or above the very strong level and support the group’s strategy of growing its platform by providing digitally enabled financial services across insurance, reinsurance and asset management.
