Best’s News & Research Service - December 23, 2020 03:20 PM (EST)
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for Members of Manhattan Insurance Group and Standard Life and Casualty Insurance Company
- December 23, 2020 03:20 PM (EST)
Oldwick //BestWire// - AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “bbb-” of ManhattanLife Assurance Company of America (Little Rock, AR), The Manhattan Life Insurance Company (Great Neck, NY), Family Life Insurance Company (Houston, TX) and Western United Life Assurance Company (Spokane, WA). These companies collectively are known as the Manhattan Insurance Group (MIG).
Concurrently, AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the FSR of B (Fair) and the Long-Term ICR of “bb+” of Standard Life and Casualty Insurance Company (Standard Life and Casualty) (Salt Lake City, UT), which was recently acquired by Western United Life Assurance Company. All companies are subsidiaries of the privately held Manhattan Life Group, Inc.
The ratings of MIG reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as weak, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The revision of MIG’s outlooks to positive is driven primarily by a trend of improving risk-adjusted capitalization over the previous several years, coupled with continuing favorable operating performance despite the challenges of the COVID-19-fueled environment. AM Best expects this trend to continue and result in enhanced Best Capital Adequacy Ratio scores over the near term.
The ratings of Standard Life and Casualty reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile, marginal enterprise risk management and the partial rating enhancement it receives from its ownership by MIG. The revision of Standard Life and Casualty’s outlooks to positive reflect the potential for further rating enhancement as the company becomes further integrated into the organization’s operations, and MIG’s credit profile continues to improve. AM Best expects MIG to continue to support Standard Life and Casualty and integrate the newly acquired entity into the group fully in the near term as it has done with previous acquisitions.
Partially offsetting these positive rating factors is the continuing global pandemic and the unknown long-term effects on real estate-related asset classes, public health and the macroeconomic environment. Furthermore, MIG’s increasing investment allocation to NAIC-2 class bond issuances over the last several years has decreased the quality of the balance sheet moderately, and this likely will be exacerbated by the pandemic.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.