AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Qatar Insurance Company Q.S.P.C. and Its Subsidiary
- January 29, 2026 08:40 AM (EST)
//BestWire// - AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” (Excellent) of Qatar Insurance Company Q.S.P.C. (QIC) (Qatar), and its subsidiary, Antares Reinsurance Company Limited (Antares Re) (Bermuda). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect QIC’s consolidated balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as the group’s adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings of Antares Re factor in its strategic importance to QIC.
QIC’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and is supported by good financial flexibility, a relative conservative investment portfolio by asset class and low reinsurance dependence. An offsetting factor is the exposure of QIC’s assets toward Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which exposes the group to moderate financial system risk.
Underwriting profitability has improved in recent years, evidenced by a net/gross combined ratio of 94.5% in the first nine months of 2025 and 95.5% in 2024. These results follow multiple years of volatile profitability, which were adversely impacted by natural catastrophe losses and other events such as changes in the U.K.’s Ogden discount rate and COVID-19-related business interruption losses. Going forward, the group is expected to continue to report robust and less volatile underwriting performance, as a result of corrective measures implemented by management.
The group is geographically well-diversified, with insurance operations in the Middle East and multi-channel international platforms under the Antares Global brand, including a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer (Antares Re), a Lloyd's platform (Syndicate 1274) and carriers in Europe. The business mix has changed in recent years, with the group significantly reducing its exposure to U.K. motor insurance since 2022 in favour of GCC risks.
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 use of Best’s Credit Ratings (BCR), Best’s Performance Assessments (PA), Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments (PCA) 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.