AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of General de Seguros, S.A.
- July 10, 2026 02:49 PM (EDT)
//BestWire// - AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” (Excellent) of General de Seguros, S.A. (GS) (Panama City, Panama). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect GS’ balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
GS is an insurance subsidiary of Banco General, S.A. (BG), one of the largest banks in Panama. The company ranks fifth by premium in Panama’s insurance market, deriving its business solely from BG customers. GS and BG are ultimately owned by Grupo Financiero BG, S.A. (Panama), a publicly listed company with over USD 4 billion in equity as of December 2025.
GS’ business profile is considered neutral to the ratings due to its access to a large client base provided by BG, with ample room to grow in terms of customer penetration and cross-selling. Concerns regarding concentration in distribution channels are mitigated partially by its ownership and the systemic importance of BG to Panama’s financial system.
AM Best assesses GS’ balance sheet strength at the strongest level due to its ample capital base with a clearly defined risk appetite. Somewhat limiting this assessment is the quality of capital concentrated in retained earnings rather than paid capital; nevertheless, historically, dividend distribution has been prudent.
As of December 2025, GS was the most profitable company in Panama’s insurance segment by technical results, contributing to over 29% of the total market. The company has reported sound underwriting ratios, due to a double screening on the underwriting side (by BG and GS) and due to the operational efficiencies related to common processes with BG. The company has been able to maintain its profitability and quality of underwriting during the last few years, rendering its operating performance strong.
AM Best assesses GS’ ERM as appropriate, as the company has a clear risk management structure backed by the group’s knowledge and aims to comply with its defined risk appetite according to its tolerances.
The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s expectation that GS will continue to develop its strategy in a profitable way, while maintaining its strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR).
Positive rating actions are unlikely, but could take place if GS’ operating performance continues to strengthen over the medium term.
Negative rating actions could take place if there are significant disruptions in business generation tied to GS’ parent, which could impact either revenue or profitability.
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)
- Understanding Global BCAR (Version Sept. 18, 2025)
- Catastrophe Analysis in AM Best Ratings (Version Feb. 27, 2026)
- Available Capital and Insurance Holding Company Analysis (Version Sept. 18, 2025)
- 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: June 20, 2025
- Initial Rating Date: June 14, 2024
- Date Range of Financial Data Used: Dec. 2020-Dec. 2025
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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.