A.M. Best Affirms AmerUs Life Ratings, Places Indianapolis Life Ratings Under Review.Business & Insurance Editors OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2000 A.M. Best Co. has affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. the ratings of the life insurance units of AmerUs Life Holdings Inc. and placed the ratings of the life insurance units of Indianapolis Indianapolis (ĭn'dēənă`pəlĭs), city (1990 pop. 731,327), state capital and seat of Marion co., central Ind., on the White River; selected 1820 as the site of the state capital (which was moved there in 1825), inc. 1847. Life Insurance Co. under review with developing implications. The action follows yesterday's announcement of a proposed merger of the Indianapolis Life companies into the AmerUs group of companies. The ratings affirmed are: AmerUs Life Insurance Co., A (Excellent); American Vanguard Vanguard Any of three unmanned U.S. experimental satellites. Vanguard I (1958), the second U.S. satellite placed in orbit around Earth (after Explorer 1), was a tiny 3.25-lb (1.47-kg) sphere with two radio transmitters. Life Insurance Co., A; Delta Life & Annuity annuity: see insurance. annuity Payment made at a fixed interval. A common example is the payment received by retirees from their pension plan. There are two main classes of annuities: annuities certain and contingent annuities. Co., A; American Investors Life Insurance Co., A- (Excellent); and Financial Benefit Life Insurance Co., B+ (Very Good). The companies placed under review with developing implications are Indianapolis Life Insurance Co., A; Bankers Life Insurance Company of 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 , A; IL Annuity & Insurance Co., A; and Western Security Life Insurance Co., A. The ratings are placed under review pending an in-depth analysis of the strategic plans for the combined entities, including an evaluation of the consolidated earnings capacity, financial position and overall performance of each of the principal business segments of the organization following the completion of the proposed merger. A.M. Best also will consider the organization's ability to execute strategic initiatives to expand on the opportunities presented under the affiliation, as well as the actual integration of the two organizations. AmerUs Life is ultimately owned by American Mutual Holding Co., which is in the process of a full demutualization Demutualization The process of changing corporate structure from a mutual fund company to some other form, such as a limited liability or corporation. Notes: This means mutual/life insurance companies convert from policyholder companies to stock companies. that is scheduled for completion during the second half of 2000. Indianapolis Life, in its current mutual company form, will merge into American Mutual Holding Co. Under Iowa law, Indianapolis Life would become a stock life insurance subsidiary of a new public company, called AmerUs Group. The merger and demutualization plans are subject to regulatory, policyholder Policyholder An individual who owns an insurance policy. and shareholder approvals, with completion expected by Dec. 31, 2000. Under the agreement, the operating life insurance companies will remain stock subsidiaries of the holding company. The merger brings together complementary business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets of each organization's individual life and annuity lines and considerably expanded distribution strength. The combined organization will have a geographic presence in all 50 states, with distribution through more than 50,000 personal producing general agents, independent agents, independent broker/dealers and registered representatives. AmerUs Life has benefited from increased economies of scale and improved operating efficiencies as a result of the integration at American Investors Life Insurance Co., Financial Benefit Life Insurance Co. and Delta Life & Annuity Co. into the AmerUs Life Holdings Inc. group of companies over the past few years. Stable earnings of the individual life segment have enabled the company to maintain favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. 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. , and the company is well positioned to fund new business growth. AmerUs Life has strong asset / liability management, investment expertise and product development capabilities, as well as favorable brand recognition. These strengths complement the strengths of Indianapolis Life, particularly with regard to product development of universal life, term insurance and individual annuities. However, these new products--particularly annuities--have generated strong sales results for Indianapolis Life and significant new business surplus strain. Indianapolis Life has obtained additional capital through investments from former strategic partner American United Life Insurance Co., and AmerUs will invest in the Indianapolis Life group of companies to replace this capital. While A.M. Best believes the transaction has long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. favorable implications for the individual businesses, it is concerned that the organization may have difficulty executing various initiatives, given the dramatic changes under way in the financial-services market. The rating action described above regarding the Indianapolis Life group of companies is contingent upon Adj. 1. contingent upon - determined by conditions or circumstances that follow; "arms sales contingent on the approval of congress" contingent on, dependant on, dependant upon, dependent on, dependent upon, depending on, contingent the timely completion of the proposed transaction as outlined to A.M. Best. A delay or failure to close the transaction would cause the ratings of the Indianapolis Life group of companies to be lowered. 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