A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Erie Insurance Group, Erie Family Life and Erie Indemnity.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 Erie Insurance Group Erie Insurance Group, (NASDAQ: ERIE) is a multi-line insurance company, offering auto, home, commercial and life insurance through a network of independent insurance agents. (Erie) and its property/casualty members. Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the ICR of "a" of Erie's life/health member, Erie Family Life Insurance Company (Erie Family Life), and the ICR of "a+" of Erie's publicly traded management company, Erie Indemnity Company (Erie Indemnity) [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 : ERIE]. All companies are domiciled in Erie, PA. The outlook for all ratings is stable. (See below for a detailed list of the companies and ratings.) The rating affirmations for Erie reflect its strong risk-adjusted capitalization, improved operating performance and favorable business profile. In 2006, the property/casualty group continued to refine its pricing segmentation model for private passenger automobile and homeowners' lines of business. Top line premium declines for Erie have been driven by competitive pricing derived from challenging soft market conditions. However, A.M. Best believes that Erie has positioned itself for continued earnings success through its disciplined approach in managing rates, while continuing to balance growth and underwriting profitability. Erie's capital position is further enhanced by the financial position of Erie Indemnity, which serves as attorney-in-fact for the insurance operations, with over $1.2 billion in shareholders' equity Shareholders' Equity A firms' total assets minus its total liabilities. Equivalently, it is share capital plus retained earnings minus treasury shares. Shareholders' equity is the amount by which a company is financed through common and preferred shares. and no long-term debt Long-Term Debt Loans and financial obligations lasting over one year. Notes: For example debts obligations such as bonds and notes which have maturities greater than one year would be considered long-term debt. obligations as of year-end 2006. The ICR of Erie Indemnity recognizes its strong financial position and consistent sustained profitability derived from the management services agreement, which is partially offset by its dependence on management fee revenues and credit risk related to unsecured receivables due from Erie Insurance Exchange for certain fees, costs and reimbursements. The affirmation of Erie Family Life's ratings reflects its integral position within Erie and Erie's demonstrated financial commitment to Erie Family Life; a trend of positive statutory operating results including steady growth in net premium written; and its more than adequate level of risk-adjusted capitalization based on Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio Capital adequacy ratio (CAR), also called Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR)[], is a ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. National regulators track a bank's CAR to ensure that it can absorb a reasonable amount of loss. . Erie Family Life is now jointly owned by Erie Insurance Exchange and Erie Indemnity Company. Erie Family Life became a privately owned company in 2006. The FSR of A+ (Superior) and ICRs of "aa-" have been affirmed for Erie Insurance Group and its following property/casualty members: * Erie Insurance Exchange * Erie Insurance Company * Erie 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 * Erie Insurance Property & Casualty Company * Flagship City Insurance Company The FSR of A (Excellent) and ICR of "a" have been affirmed for Erie Family Life Insurance Company. The ICR of "a+" has been affirmed for Erie Indemnity Company. Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the 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. industries, including the banking and insurance sectors. For more information, visit www.ambest.com |
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