A.M. Best's New Ratings Will Benefit Canadian Insurance Market.Circuit Ordered:CANADIAN Canadian (kənā`dēən), river, 906 mi (1,458 km) long, rising in NE New Mexico. and flowing E across N Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in E Oklahoma. TIMELY DISCLOSURE BW Office: NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -0- Business Editors OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2000 A.M. Best Co. has assigned as·sign tr.v. as·signed, as·sign·ing, as·signs 1. To set apart for a particular purpose; designate: assigned a day for the inspection. 2. Best's Qualified Ratings, which gauge the financial strength of insurance companies, to Canadian insurers previously rated by TRAC TRAC - Text Reckoning And Compiling Insurance Services. A.M. Best acquired TRAC in June June: see month. of 1999 and renamed the Toronto-based company A.M. Best Canada Canada (kăn`ədə), independent nation (2001 pop. 30,007,094), 3,851,787 sq mi (9,976,128 sq km), N North America. Canada occupies all of North America N of the United States (and E of Alaska) except for Greenland and the French islands of Ltd. The acquisition represented a strategic fit with A.M. Best, as TRAC was a leading provider of Canadian insurance financial information and company ratings. Like Best's Qualified Ratings, TRAC Scores were based on publicly available quantitative information. Best's Qualified Ratings will benefit the rated companies and insurance consumers by providing instant comparability with nearly 6,000 insurers rated by A.M. Best around the world. Best's Qualified Ratings use the same scale as A.M. Best's interactive ratings (A++ to F) and are identified by a "q" subscript (1) In word processing and scientific notation, a digit or symbol that appears below the line; for example, H2O, the symbol for water. Contrast with superscript. (2) In programming, a method for referencing data in a table. . However, A.M. Best does not assign qualified ratings higher than A (Excellent). Limitations associated with a purely quantitative rating process require a more conservative rating posture posture /pos·ture/ (pos´choor) the attitude of the body.pos´tural pos·ture n. 1. A position of the body or of body parts. 2. . Without the benefit of A.M. Best's interactive rating process--which involves meetings with the rated companies and an analysis of important supplemental information that is not publicly available--A.M. Best cannot achieve sufficient comfort to assign its highest ratings A+ or A++. A.M. Best has well-established rating coverage in Canada. Before acquiring TRAC, the Oldwick, N.J.-based company rated approximately 80 life and 100 property/casualty insurers in Canada, many of which are branches of U.S. companies. When all of the qualified ratings have been assigned, A.M. Best will have complete rating coverage in Canada, including more than 100 life and more than 200 property/casualty companies. Ratings and reliable industry data benefit the insurance market through increased transparency (1) The quality of being able to see through a material. The terms transparency and translucency are often used synonymously; however, transparent would technically mean "seeing through clear glass," while translucent would mean "seeing through frosted glass." See alpha blending. and availability of standardized standardized pertaining to data that have been submitted to standardization procedures. standardized morbidity rate see morbidity rate. standardized mortality rate see mortality rate. and valuable information. Best's Qualified Ratings, while based only on publicly available information, represent an improvement over the TRAC Score rating process--which was based on eight pass/fail tests--and are available free of charge on the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the at www.ambest.com. The Best's Qualified Rating process uses a more sophisticated weighting mechanism than TRAC's pass/fail method. Best's Qualified Ratings are based on 15 tests in the three major analytical analytical, analytic pertaining to or emanating from analysis. analytical control control of confounding by analysis of the results of a trial or test. areas of financial strength, operating performance and market profile. Financial strength measures are assigned the greatest weighting (55%), followed by operating performance (30%) and market profile (15%). This process is similar to, but less rigorous than, A.M. Best's interactive rating process. In general, companies assigned Secure Best's Qualified Ratings of Aq to B+q have strong to adequate capitalization capitalization n. 1) the act of counting anticipated earnings and expenses as capital assets (property, equipment, fixtures) for accounting purposes. 2) the amount of anticipated net earnings which hypothetically can be used for conversion into capital assets. relative to the business they underwrite To insure; to sell an issue of stocks and bonds or to guarantee the purchase of unsold stocks and bonds after a public issue. The word underwrite has two meanings. , satisfactory operating results and good business and/or and/or conj. Used to indicate that either or both of the items connected by it are involved. Usage Note: And/or is widely used in legal and business writing. geographic diversification Diversification A risk management technique that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio. It is designed to minimize the impact of any one security on overall portfolio performance. Notes: Diversification is possibly the greatest way to reduce the risk. (market profile). Companies assigned Vulnerable Best's Qualified Ratings of Bq to Dq have low or inadequate capitalization, a history of adverse claims development, poor operating performance or exhibit other market vulnerabilities.
The following Canadian property/casualty companies have received a
Best's Qualified Rating:
Company AMB# Rating
Alberta Motor Association Insurance Co. 86135 B++ q
Algoma Mutual Insurance Co. 87771 B q
AXA Assurances Agricoles Inc. 86334 B++ q
AXA Assurances Inc. 85798 B++ q
AXA Insurance (Canada) 86239 B++ q
AXA Pacific Insurance Co. 86185 B++ q
B.C.A.A. Insurance Corp. 87017 B+ q
Bay of Quinte Mutual Ins. Co. 87018 B+ q
CAA Insurance Co. (Ontario) 85708 B++ q
Canada Life Casualty Insurance Co. 87021 B+ q
Capitale Compagnie D'Assurance
Generale (La) 85721 B++ q
CIBC Insurance 87026 B+ q
Economical Mutual Insurance Co. 85741 A q
Federation Insurance Co. of Canada 85744 B q
Gore Mutual Insurance Co. 85752 A- q
Helvetia Swiss Insurance Co. Ltd.
(Canadian Branch) 87050 B+ q
Heritage General Insurance Co. 87051 B++ q
Icarom plc (Canadian Branch) 87726 B+ q
Kings Mutual Insurance Co. (The) 87056 B++ q
London and Midland General Insurance Co. 85764 B++ q
Loyalist Insurance Co. (The) 87061 B+ q
Missisquoi Insurance Co. (The) 85769 B q
Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of B.C.
(The) 87068 B++ q
North Waterloo Farmers Mutual
Insurance Co. (The) 86612 B+ q
Perth Insurance Co. 85777 B++ q
Pictou County Farmers' Mutual
Fire Insurance Co. 87079 B+ q
Pilot Insurance Co. 85779 B++ q
Prince Edward Island Mutual Insurance Co. 87080 B++ q
Red River Valley Mutual Insurance Co. 86573 B++ q
Saskatchewan Mutual Insurance Co. 85787 B++ q
Security National Insurance Co. 87089 B++ q
Skandia Insurance Co. Ltd.
(Canadian Branch) 85120 B++ q
UAP - New Rotterdam Insurance
Co. N.V. (Canadian Branch) 87733 B- q
Unique Compagnie D'Assurances
Generales (L') 87101 B q
Voyageur Insurance Co. 86243 B++ q
Waterloo Insurance Co. (The) 85801 B+ q
West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance Co.
(The) 87104 B+ q
A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most
authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more
information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com.
|
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion