A.M. Best Affirms Northwestern Mutual Life's Rating; Assigns Initial Rating to Frank Russell Company Debt.Business Editors OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2001 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 financial strength rating of A++ (Superior) for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Northwestern Mutual Long Term Care Insurance Company, Milwaukee. In addition, a rating of "aaa" has been assigned to the existing $350 million senior notes of its subsidiary, Frank Russell Frank Russell may refer to the following people:
These ratings reflect Northwestern Mutual's leading position as a provider of individual protection and wealth management products, its conservative operating strategy, excellent earnings performance, high-quality investment portfolio and superior risk-adjusted 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. . These ratings also acknowledge the strength and quality of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network The Northwestern Mutual is a large mutual company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is marketed as the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Founded in Janesville in 1857, it is one of the nation's largest direct provider of individual life insurance in the United States. , its exclusive distribution system that is operated on a variable cost basis. The company's sustained profitability is supported by a core participating life insurance line, where historically favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. policy persistency and mortality experience have become competitive advantages. On an operating basis, Russell's debt service coverage is sufficient, notwithstanding the guarantee. Additionally, Northwestern Mutual's financial leverage is minimal at 5% of capital; the company has no plans to issue additional debt in the near-term. In contrast to the life insurance industry as a whole, Northwestern Mutual's new individual life premium has seen double-digit growth over the past four years. The company has consistently provided policyowners with dividend rates that are among the industry's highest, contributing to excellent persistency and its preeminent pre·em·i·nent or pre-em·i·nent adj. Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding. See Synonyms at dominant, noted. [Middle English, from Latin prae position in the individual life insurance market. The growth and stability of the in-force business, combined with Northwestern Mutual's focus on operating fundamentals, has enabled it to generate strong earnings from traditional individual life insurance. In addition, its disability and individual annuity businesses strengthen Northwestern Mutual's individual insurance franchise, while consistently contributing to profitability. Northwestern Mutual broadened its financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. enterprise through its 1999 acquisition of the Frank Russell Company, an investment management firm, which also provides investment consulting, analysis and securities brokerage to institutional clients. While extending Northwestern Mutual's global presence in asset management, Russell's proprietary mutual funds are available to retail clients through financial institutions, registered investment advisors Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) is a designation obtainable in the United States by an individual who has registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or state regulatory agency (where the primary business is situated or multiple States in some cases) in and brokers. The acquisition has added considerable scale to Northwestern Mutual's mutual fund operations, expanding investment options for variable product portfolios, enhancing wealth management capabilities and providing a broader product platform through Russell's manager-of-managers expertise. As of March 31, 2001, Russell had total assets under management Assets Under Management (AUM) is a term used by financial services companies in the mutual fund and money management or investment management business to gauge how much money they are managing. of $63 billion, while Northwestern Mutual maintained $94.1 billion in total assets. The A++ (Superior) financial strength rating of the following companies has been affirmed: -- Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. -- Northwestern Mutual Long Term Care Insurance Co. The following rating is assigned to existing debt securities: -- Frank Russell Company--"aaa" rating on $350 million, 5.625% senior unsecured notes due January, 2009 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