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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEXICO CITY - JANUARY 16, 2019 01:09 PM (EST)
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “aa+” and the Mexico National Scale Rating of “aaa.MX” of Seguros Monterrey New York Life, S.A. de C.V. (SMNYL) (Mexico City, Mexico). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) remains stable.
The ratings reflect SMNYL’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
The ratings also reflect SMNYL’s strong integration with its parent company, New York Life Insurance Company (New York Life) (FSR A++, Long-Term ICR “aaa”), strengthened risk-adjusted capitalization, robust ERM, positive trend in operating performance and highly competitive position in Mexico’s life insurance segment. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are its challenging expansion strategy within Mexico’s very competitive market and the uncertainty regarding future interest rate shifts.
SMNYL is the Mexico subsidiary of New York Life and a product of the Seguros Monterrey acquisition in 2000. SMNYL, established in Mexico in 1940, mainly underwrites life products through a solid agent network. As of September 2018, SMNYL was Mexico’s seventh-largest insurer with a market share of 5.4%. The company’s product portfolio is composed of individual life (67%), individual medical expenses (19%), group medical expenses (10%) and group life (4%).
SMNYL benefits from its ultimate parent’s strong brand recognition. In addition, its integration within its group is key to the rating level, as New York Life actively supervises SMNYL’s strategy and operations, further enhancing its corporate governance and product innovation. Within New York Life’s international structure, the Mexico operation stands out as one of the most significant in terms of its good profitability and market presence, which makes the subsidiary’s operation and strategy very likely to be supported by the group if required.
During 2017, the company continued to grow above the life segment market pace, improving its bottom-line results and posting good underwriting metrics in relation to the market and its past performance despite larger benefits paid to net premiums ratio, only reflecting the good previous mortality and morbidity experience of the company. A.M. Best expects SMNYL to maintain its good underwriting performance; net income is expected to benefit from the volatility in international and domestic markets while maintaining a prudent investment strategy. Due to the company’s robust ERM and corporate governance capabilities, A.M. Best believes that SMNYL has sufficient technical tools and market expertise to achieve an adequate balance between growth and profitability. In addition, the company presents an adequate investment policy that supports the profitability of its operation.
Risk-adjusted capitalization is categorized as strongest, despite a significant dividend payment made in 2018 that did not materially affect AM Best’s view of the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization. Looking forward, AM Best expects that SMNYL’s capital management capabilities will benefit base capital through a strong net income and non-material dividend payments. Due to the nature of the life business and its investment component, SMNYL is susceptible to changes in interest rates, which are expected to moderately increase during 2019. However, most of its investment portfolios are in line with the characteristics of it liabilities and group’s guidelines, placing the company in a favorable position to mitigate such increases.
A.M. Best considers SMNYL to be well-positioned at its current rating levels. Future positive rating factors that could lead to an improvement in the Long-Term ICR include success with the company’s expansion goals; maintenance of its profitability trend; and strengthening of its capital base because of improved operating performance. Negative rating actions could occur if the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization becomes affected either by large capital outflows or by weaker operating performance in the medium term due to large and sustained increases in operational and acquisition expenses or benefits paid derived from the expansion strategy. Furthermore, negative rating actions could result if AM Best’s view on the strategic importance of the Mexico subsidiary to its group decreases or if there are negative rating actions on New York Life.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of AM Best’s rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best’s Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.
Key insurance criteria reports utilized:
View a general description of the policies and procedures used to determine credit ratings. For information on the meaning of ratings, structure, voting and the committee process for determining the ratings and monitoring activities, please refer to Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings.
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