Verdant Rock Limited, a Bermuda-based insurance company regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority, has received a BBB+ Long-Term Insurer Financial Strength Rating with a Stable Outlook from Fitch Ratings.
According to the credit rating agency, the ratings reflect Verdant Rock’s strong initial capitalisation and prudent financial profile, balanced against execution risks associated with its start-up status and lack of operating record.
The newly formed company operates under a Class 3B Insurer license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA), effective 6 May 2026.
Verdant Rock focuses on providing irrevocable, unconditional financial guarantees on private corporate liabilities, structured financings, and project finance in emerging markets. Its business model deliberately excludes sovereign, provincial, or municipal debt coverage.
Tolga Uzuner, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Verdant Rock Limited, said: “The infrastructure and capital markets we are targeting have been systematically underserved over the past decade.
“Verdant Rock enters this space with an investment grade rating, a strong capital position, the regulatory standing, the technical capability, and the long-term commitment that issuers and their advisers have been unable to find elsewhere.”
Fitch views Verdant Rock’s business profile as good, supported by the longstanding experience of the board and senior management in financial services, emerging markets (EM), structured finance and risk management, and the planned risk governance framework.
Additionally, its diversification framework indicates a good level of planned diversification across products and EM geographies.
This assessment also accounts for the firm’s absence of a performance history, alongside hazards pertaining to market adoption, the conversion of its pipeline, and the stability of its performance. Furthermore, it considers potential challenges in underwriting, surveillance, and the expansion of its niche operational activities.
Fitch rates Verdant Rock’s portfolio risk as ‘Medium’, based on a five-year average policy life, a 40% recovery rate, and credit quality divided among ‘BBB’, ‘BB’, and ‘B’ ratings. While the non-investment-grade focus presents risk, Fitch considers the reliance on secured and collateralised structures beneficial for recoveries.
The rating agency expects Verdant Rock to broadly deliver on its base-case forecast, including a return on equity (ROE) of about 21% and a combined ratio of about 36% in 2027-2035. This reflects Fitch’s view of management’s ability to execute its business plan and maintain the assumed underwriting, investment, and expense performance through the projection period.
However, Fitch views execution risk as higher than for more established peers, given Verdant Rock’s limited operating record and the sensitivity of projected outcomes to assumptions on origination volumes, pricing discipline, loss emergence and recoveries in EM credit conditions.
