A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Guardian Life and Its Subsidiaries; Revises Outlook to Positive.

OLDWICK, N.J. A.M. Best -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of A+(Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "aa" of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) (New York, NY) and its core subsidiaries, The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company (Delaware) and Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America (Massachusetts). A.M. Best has also affirmed the FSRs of A (Excellent) and the ICRs of "a" of Guardian's three other life subsidiaries. The outlook on the above ratings has been revised to positive from stable.

Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and upgraded the ICR to "a+" from "a" for First Commonwealth Insurance Company (Chicago, IL), a Guardian dental subsidiary, with a stable outlook. (See below for a detailed list of the ratings.)

The ratings reflect the Guardian group's strong capitalization, favorable earnings trends, and the implementation of certain key strategic initiatives. The ratings also consider the group's diversified product portfolio, which is comprised of strong positions in its core life, annuity, individual disability and group benefits markets.

The group's surplus levels have grown substantially over the past five year period. Additionally, its risk-adjusted capital position is more than adequate for its level of insurance and investment risks. In recent years, Guardian has also reported very favorable growth in statutory operating results, resulting in double digit returns on equity in each of the past three years. A.M. Best also believes the organization has made substantial progress in executing various key strategic initiatives, which have positioned Guardian to realize future sales growth and more stable operating results, while improving its risk profile by de-emphasizing non-core operations and repositioning its asset portfolio.

While Guardian is posturing itself for premium growth in future periods, A.M. Best believes the company may be challenged to report substantive premium expansion in its core ordinary life and group benefits operations in the current competitive environment. Furthermore, A.M. Best will continue to monitor the consistency of earnings within the accident and health lines of business, which may be exposed to greater potential volatility.

The FSRs of A+ (Superior) and the ICRs of "aa" have been affirmed for The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America and its following subsidiaries:

* The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc.

* Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America

The FSRs of A (Excellent) and the ICRs of "a" have been affirmed for the following subsidiaries of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America:

* Family Service Life Insurance Company

* Park Avenue Life Insurance Company

* Sentinel American Life Insurance Company

The FSR of A (Excellent) has been affirmed and the ICR has been upgraded to "a+" for First Commonwealth Insurance Company.

For Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings.

For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 1,100 individual life/health companies and A.M. Best groups, please visit www.ambest.com/lh.

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.