Best’s News & Research Service - April 23, 2025 12:06 PM (EDT)
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive, Affirms Credit Ratings of Armour Secure Insurance S.A. de C.V.
- April 23, 2025 12:06 PM (EDT)
//BestWire// - AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” (Good) and the Mexico National Scale Rating of “aa-.MX” (Superior) of Armour Secure Insurance S.A. de C.V. (Armour) (Mexico City, Mexico).
These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Armour’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM).
The revision of the outlooks to positive reflects AM Best’s expectation that the improvements in the communication between the holding company, Trebuchet Group Holdings Limited, and Armour’s management will continue, in line with more transparency and willingness to provide information to AM Best. It is also expected that Armour will maintain its current balance sheet strength assessment level, which is supported by risk-adjusted capitalization at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), while it maintains a strong level of operating performance.
The strong balance sheet strength assessment reflects Armour’s capital base, which has been consistently strengthened through the reinvestment of earnings. Armour has been able to sustain a profitable operation through its underwriting results, consistently reporting premium sufficiency that has benefited from efficiencies in management expenses in the last few years. Armour’s bottom-line results are reinforced by investment income, which follows a conservative approach allocating its portfolio to Mexican fixed income securities.
Armour is the leader in Mexico’s title insurance market, holding over 70% of market share as of December 2024 with only one competitor. The company’s business profile is limited due to its concentration in a niche market.
Positive rating actions could take place if, in AM Best’s view, Armour and its holding company keep improving communication, demonstrating transparency and efficiency in information and its ERM processes. Negative rating actions could take place if the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization weakens due to significant cash withdrawals or excessive premium growth. Negative rating actions could also take place if operating performance deteriorates to metrics no longer supportive of its current assessment.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology (Version Aug. 29, 2024), 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:
- Evaluating Country Risk (Version June 6, 2024)
- Rating Title Insurance Companies (Version Sept. 12, 2024)
- Understanding Global BCAR (Version Aug. 1, 2024)
- Available Capital and Insurance Holding Company Analysis (Version Aug. 15, 2024)
- Best's National Scale Ratings (Version May 16, 2024)
- Scoring and Assessing Innovation (Version Feb. 20, 2025)
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, relevant sources of information and the frequency for updating ratings, please refer to Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings.
- Previous Rating Date: April 12, 2024
- Initial Rating Date: July 29, 2016
- Date Range of Financial Data Used: Dec. 31, 2019-Dec. 31, 2024
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
This press release relates to rating(s) that have been published on AM Best's website. For additional 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.
If the ratings referred in this press release do not indicate a specific country suffix, it is understood that they are granted globally and not on a national scale.
AM Best does not validate or certify the information provided by the client in order to issue a credit rating.
While the information obtained from the material source(s) is believed to be reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed. AM Best does not audit the company’s financial records or statements, or otherwise independently verify the accuracy and reliability of the information; therefore, AM Best cannot attest as to the accuracy of the information provided.
AM Best’s credit ratings are independent and objective opinions, not statements of fact. AM Best is not an Investment Advisor, does not offer investment advice of any kind, nor does the company or its Ratings Analysts offer any form of structuring or financial advice. AM Best’s credit opinions are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities, or to make any other investment decisions. View our entire notice for complete details.
AM Best receives compensation for interactive rating services provided to organizations that it rates. AM Best may also receive compensation from rated entities for non-rating related services or products offered by AM Best. AM Best does not offer consulting or advisory services. AM Best keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units of AM Best may have information that is not available to other AM Best business units. AM Best has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain confidential (non-public) information received in connection with each analytical process. For more information regarding AM Best’s rating process, including handling of confidential (non-public) information, independence, and avoidance of conflicts of interest, please read the AM Best Code of Conduct. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
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 London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.