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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AMSTERDAM - APRIL 04, 2022 12:06 PM (EDT)
AM Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) to Euro Accident Livförsäkring AB (Euro Accident) (Sweden). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The majority owner of Euro Accident is Impilo AB, a Swedish investment firm focused on Nordic health care investments.
The ratings reflect Euro Accident’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
Euro Accident’s strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), along with its conservative and liquid investment portfolio, prudent reserving and robust reinsurance programme collectively contribute to an overall balance sheet assessment of strong. AM Best expects the company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation to remain at the strongest level prospectively, underpinned by good earnings generation and taking into account projected dividend payments to service the approximately SEK 618 million of debt held by one of the insurer’s intermediate parent holding companies.
Euro Accident has delivered robust results in 2020 and 2019, which was its first full year of operations in its current capacity as a Swedish-domiciled insurance company. In 2020, the company achieved a combined ratio of 92.6% (2019: 96.2%) (as calculated by AM Best) and a return on equity of 22.9% (2019: 12.6%). The improvement in performance in 2020 partly reflects a reduction in claims frequency as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a fall in health insurance usage.
Euro Accident was first established as a Swedish agency in 1996 and through its role as an agency and later as an insurer, it has a long-established position as a provider of life and health insurance in its core market of Sweden where it benefits from strong broker and partner relationships. Additionally, the company expanded to Denmark in 2018 and to Norway in 2020 and anticipates material growth in these markets. The expansion is expected to benefit the company’s business profile by increasing its geographic diversification; however, it carries with it a moderate level of operational and execution risk.
AM Best considers Euro Accident’s ERM to be developed and appropriate for the company’s risk profile and operational scope.
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, 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 specialising 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.