Best’s News & Research Service - December 01, 2021 02:41 PM (EST)
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for El Águila, Compañía de Seguros, S.A. de C.V.
- December 01, 2021 02:41 PM (EST)
Mexico City //BestWire// - AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” (Excellent) of El Águila, Compañía de Seguros, S.A. de C.V. (El Aguila) (Mexico City, Mexico). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the Mexico National Scale Rating of “aaa.MX” (Exceptional) of El Aguila. The outlook of this Credit Rating (rating) is stable.
The ratings reflect El Aguila’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The revised outlooks to positive reflect AM Best’s expectation of El Aguila’s ability to keep building capital based on profitable underwriting and net results.
The ratings also reflect El Aguila’s support from its parent company, Great American Insurance Company, which currently has an FSR of A+ (Superior) and a Long-Term ICR of “aa-” (Superior), each with a stable outlook, and continued improvements in El Aguila’s underwriting quality as of 2020. Offsetting these positive rating factors are the company’s the company’s relatively small size.
El Aguila was established in Mexico in 1994 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great American Insurance Company. Since 2015, El Aguila has underwritten auto insurance exclusively, but introduced coverages in other property/casualty (P/C) lines in 2016. The P/C division targets small- and medium-size enterprises in the commercial segment through an independent network of local distribution partners. The product offering includes a combination of packaged and monoline insurance coverages. In line with company expectations, the P/C portfolio grew by 21% in 2020 compared with the previous year, which mitigated the administrative expenses. These administrative expenses also were mitigated by a good technical result from the auto line of business and an improved loss ratio in the P/C division, reducing the overall combined ratio to 93.9%.
The company has benefited historically from its parent company’s capital contributions in support of its growth and strategy. The last contribution took place in 2017 and totaled MXN 57.6 million. This contribution helped strengthen the company’s risk adjusted capitalization.
Historically, El Aguila has struggled to report premium sufficiency given its high expense ratio, which is a consequence of maintaining a direct sales distribution and infrastructure in tandem with large marketing efforts. Distribution in Mexico’s auto insurance segment typically occurs through agents, car agencies, and through bancassurance alliances.
El Aguila’s risk-adjusted capitalization is very strong, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), with underwriting risk standing as the main component for required capital. The company’s profitability indicators historically have remained below the auto segment’s average, mainly as a result of higher acquisition expenses derived from its focus on developing its direct sales force. Conversely, this strategy has resulted in higher renewal rates than those registered by its main peers, and has partially mitigated pressure on underwriting in Mexico’s highly competitive auto insurance segment. Given its small size, the company shows a greater geographic concentration than its peers, making it more vulnerable to soft market conditions in its main regional markets within Mexico. As of December 2020, the company’s auto business contracted 12%, posting a technical result of MXN 35 million.
Fixed-rate bonds comprise an important part of the company’s investment portfolio, which provide a financial yield below that of Mexico’s P/C market as a result of the low interest rate environment. This further limits El Aguila’s profitability as it provides little buffer for deviations in technical results.
Positive rating actions could occur if El Aguila sustains improvements in underwriting results and risk-adjusted capitalization. Negative rating actions could occur if extreme premium growth or deteriorating underwriting results erode the company’s capital base and reduce risk-adjusted capitalization to a level that no longer supports the ratings. A change in AM Best’s perception regarding the actual or perceived level of El Aguila’s strategic importance to the Great American Insurance Company group also could impact the company’s ratings.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology (Version Nov. 13, 2020), 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:
- AM Best’s Ratings On a National Scale (Version Oct. 13, 2017)
- Available Capital & Holding Company Analysis (Version Oct. 13, 2017)
- Catastrophe Analysis in AM Best Ratings (Version Oct. 13, 2017)
- Evaluating Country Risk (Version Oct. 13, 2017)
- Scoring and Assessing Innovation (Version March 5, 2020)
- Understanding Global BCAR (Version July 22, 2021)
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 Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings.
- Previous Rating Date: Nov. 19, 2020
- Date Range of Financial Data Used: Dec. 31, 2015-Sept. 30, 2021
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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.