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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OLDWICK, N.J. - AUGUST 14, 2013 12:00 AM (EDT)
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating of “bbb-” of The Pharmacists Life Insurance Company (Pharmacists Life). The outlook for both ratings is stable. Pharmacists Life is a subsidiary of Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company (both companies domiciled Algona, IA) and provides ordinary life insurance and annuity products by marketing to pharmacists, who are financially secure and a sophisticated group. Concurrently, A.M. Best has withdrawn the ratings as the company has requested to no longer participate in A.M. Best’s interactive rating process.
The affirmation of Pharmacists Life’s ratings reflects its complementary role within the Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company organizational structure (which specializes in marketing to the well-established pharmacist-based market), its adequate risk-adjusted capital position and recent trend of net operating gains.
Partially offsetting these strengths are Pharmacists Life’s increases in interest-sensitive reserves in recent years, overall modest contributions to the Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company as well as its recent statutory losses.
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. 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.
A.M. Best Company is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.