A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of AXA Financial and Its Subsidiaries.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR (Free System Resource) In Windows 3.x, the amount of unused memory in various 64K blocks reserved for managing current applications. Every open window takes some space in this area. See Windows memory limitation. ) of A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition or Image Character Recognition) The machine recognition of hand-printed characters as well as machine printing that is difficult to recognize. ) of "aa-" of the life insurance subsidiaries of AXA AXA Anguilla, Anguilla (Airport Code) AXA Alpha Chi Alpha AXA Animal Crossing Ahead (online forum community/guide to the game Animal Crossing) AXA Auxiliary Artery Financial, Inc. (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 , NY), which includes its core operating subsidiaries, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (formerly The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States) was founded by Henry Baldwin Hyde in 1859. In 1991 a French insurance company, AXA, acquired a majority of The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States. and MONY MONY Mutual of New York (Insurance - Syracuse, NY) Life Insurance Company. AXA Financial is a member of the AXA Group (Paris, France) [NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AXA]. A.M. Best has also affirmed the ICR of "a-" of AXA Financial and the ratings on its existing debt securities. The outlook for all ratings is stable. (See below for a detailed listing of the ratings.) These ratings reflect AXA Financial's prominent position in the industry as a leading variable annuity Variable Annuity An insurance contract in which, at the end of the accumulation stage, the insurance company guarantees a minimum payment. The remaining income payments can vary depending on the performance of the managed portfolio. writer, global asset manager and integral part of AXA Group, a worldwide leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA Financial continues to generate solid and consistent operating results, which has contributed to significant improvements over the last two years in its risk-based capital position. Its Financial Advisory/Insurance Segment has diverse distribution channels, which have allowed AXA Financial to maintain its leadership position within the industry. It has also benefited from the acquisition of the MONY Companies in July 2004, which has led to an expansion of its retail distribution platform and contributed favorable statutory earnings and cash flow. The segment continues to generate solid GAAP GAAP See: Generally Accepted Accounting Principles GAAP See generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). revenue and pre-tax earnings growth, driven primarily by asset-based fee income from separate account products. The Investment Management segment, through its 61% ownership of AllianceBernstein (Alliance), has consistently generated earnings and adds product diversification and international exposure to AXA Financial. A.M. Best believes Alliance has a well-diversified business model across product type, global asset allocation, client type and client location. AXA Financial has historically been a significant source of capital for its parent, which may inhibit its ability to retain future earnings to fund internal growth. In addition, its business segments continue to be exposed to a high degree of equity market sensitivity due to Alliance's investment management operations and a heavy concentration of separate account insurance and investment products. However, A.M. Best notes that Alliance's equity market sensitivity has been reduced over the last few years due to its well-diversified business model A.M. Best also notes that the exposure from variable annuity secondary guarantees is largely offset by AXA Financial's reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. and hedging programs. Nevertheless, the intensifying competitive climate will challenge AXA Financial to meet its goal of continuing to increase its market share in the variable annuity market. The FSR of A+ (Superior) and ICRs of "aa-" have been affirmed for the following subsidiaries of AXA Financial, Inc.: * AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company * AXA Life and Annuity Company * MONY Life Insurance Company * MONY Life Insurance Company of America * U.S. Financial Life Insurance Company The following debt ratings have been affirmed: AXA Financial, Inc.-- -- "a-" on $250 million 6.50% senior unsecured notes, due 2008 -- "a-" on $480 million 7.75% senior unsecured notes, due 2010 -- "a-" on $350 million 7% senior unsecured debentures, due 2028 The MONY Group, Inc. (assumed by AXA Financial, Inc.)-- -- "a-" on $300 million 8.35% senior unsecured notes, due 2010 AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company-- -- "a" on $200 million 7.7% surplus notes, due 2015 The following indicative debt ratings have been affirmed for AXA Financial, Inc.'s universal shelf registration: AXA Financial, Inc.-- -- "a-" on senior unsecured debt -- "bbb+" on subordinated debt -- AXA Financial Capital Trust I, II, III and IV -- "bbb+" on preferred securities The ICR and senior secured notes rating of "aaa" have been withdrawn for MONY Holdings, LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control . Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial services industries, including the banking and insurance sectors. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. |
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