A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of American Modern and Its Subsidiaries; Assigns Ratings to New 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 American Modern American Modern was a distinct American design aesthetic formed in the period between 1925 and World War II. American Modern was created by a pioneering group of designers, architects and artists, among them were Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey, Henry Dreyfuss, Paul Frankl, Insurance Group (American Modern) (Amelia, OH) and its property/casualty affiliates. A.M. Best has also assigned the FSR of A+ (Superior) and the ICRs of "aa-" to two newly-formed property/casualty affiliates of American Modern. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of "a-" and debt ratings of "a-" on senior debt, "bbb+" on subordinated debt Subordinated Debt A loan (or security) that ranks below other loans (or securities) with regard to claims on assets or earnings. Also known as "junior security" or "subordinated loan". and "bbb" on preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. of the $150 million shelf registration filed by American Modern's ultimate parent, The Midland Company (Midland) (Amelia, OH) (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : MLAN (Music LAN) A local area network based on FireWire that is used to transport audio, video and MIDI data. As music has evolved into the digital realm, mLAN is designed to replace the myriad of cables, plugs and "in," "out" and "through" sockets on synthesizers, mixers and ). The outlook for all ratings is stable. (See below for a detailed list of the ratings.) The ratings of American Modern reflect its superior capitalization, consistent investment income and improved underwriting performance as a niche provider of insurance products for the manufactured housing Manufactured housing (also known as prefab housing) is a type of housing unit that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. In the United States, the term "manufactured home" specifically refers to a house built entirely in a protected , motor sport vehicles and financial services markets. The specialty focus provides a significant competitive advantage for the group, particularly in terms of pricing, claims adjusting and overall marketing strategies. American Modern's improved underwriting performance and consistent investment income has resulted in pre-tax operating gains in excess of $227 million over the last five years. The ratings also acknowledge the modest financial leverage of Midland with total debt-to-adjusted capitalization of approximately 17% and fixed coverage ratios of approximately nine times. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are the above average expense levels in relation to the property lines industry composite and elevated premium leverage. In addition, as over half of the group's business is residential property, its performance is susceptible to catastrophe events as evident with the losses associated with multiple hurricane events in 2005. However, American Modern continues to strengthen its 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. programs, modify underwriting criteria and more selectively spread its geographical risks in catastrophe prone areas to mitigate potential effects of future catastrophic events. As a result, an underwriting profit has been produced in each of the last two years. The FSR of A+ (Superior) and ICRs of "aa-" have been affirmed for the American Modern Insurance Group and its following property/casualty affiliates: --American Modern Home Insurance Company --American Family Home Insurance Company --American Southern Home Insurance Company --American Western Home Insurance Company --G.U.I.C. Insurance Company --American Modern Lloyds Insurance Company The FSR of A+ (Superior) and ICRs of "aa-" have been assigned to the following newly-formed property/casualty affiliates of the American Modern Insurance Group: --American Modern Insurance Company of Florida --American Modern Surplus Lines Insurance Company The ICR of "a-" has been affirmed for The Midland Company. The following debt ratings have been affirmed under the $150 million shelf registration: The Midland Company-- -- "a-" on senior unsecured debt Unsecured debt Debt that does not identify specific assets that the debtholder is entitled to in case of default. -- "bbb+" on subordinated debt -- "bbb" on preferred stock 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. |
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