S&P Global Ratings has raised its long-term issuer credit rating on QBE Insurance to ‘A’ from ‘A-‘, and has also raised the issuer credit and financial strength ratings on its core operating entities to ‘AA-‘ from ‘A+’.
According to S&P, the upgrade reflects its view that QBE’s earnings resilience has strengthened, driven by enhanced underwriting practices and pricing discipline.
S&P added, “The higher rating also captures a material strengthening in capital adequacy. Both earnings and capital adequacy benefit from ongoing efforts to improve the insurer’s risk selection and de-risk its insurance portfolio.
“QBE’s business position is underpinned by its broad international footprint in property and casualty (P&C) lines.”
The rating agency noted that QBE has significant P&C businesses across Europe, North America, and Australia, which support its business diversity and contribute to its solid earnings platform.
QBE also reportedly benefits from the noncorrelated earnings generated by its lenders’ mortgage insurance businesses in Australia and Hong Kong.
For those unaware, the Australian insurer reported strong gross written premium growth in Q1 2025, up 7% compared to the same period of 2024 to $8.3 billion.
S&P explained that the outlook on QBE’s ratings is Stable, and that it expects the firm to maintain its strong competitive position for at least the next two years, supported by a diversified business mix and underwriting performance that compares well with similarly rated global multiline peers.
“We also expect it to sustain robust capital adequacy capable of withstanding severe stress scenarios,” S&P concluded.
Inder Singh, Group Chief Financial Officer of QBE, commented on the news, “This is the first time QBE has achieved this rating, recognising the huge amount of work that is happening across our global enterprise to improve performance and execution on our strategic priorities.
“In particular, the improvement in our risk management and consistency of our earnings quality. Our improved financial performance in recent years, despite a challenging industry catastrophe loss environment, has highlighted QBE’s credit quality, and we are pleased to see S&P recognise the progress we’ve made.
“Looking ahead, our continued focus on consistency gives us a strong platform to build on going forward.”
