A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of ING Canada Group and ING Canada Inc.OLDWICK, N.J. -- 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 ratings (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 ING Canada Group (Toronto) (ING Canada). The group includes Belair Insurance Company Inc. (Montreal, Quebec), ING Insurance Company of Canada (Ontario), ING Novex Insurance Company of Canada (Ontario), The Nordic Insurance Company of Canada (Ontario) and Trafalgar Insurance Company of Canada (Ontario). Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of "a-" of ING Canada Inc. (TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension : IIC See infranet. ), the principal holding company for ING Canada, and the indicative ratings of "a-" on senior unsecured debt Unsecured debt Debt that does not identify specific assets that the debtholder is entitled to in case of default. securities, "bbb+" on subordinated unsecured debt securities and "bbb" on class A preferred shares Preferred shares Preferred shares give investors a fixed dividend from the company's earnings and entitle them to be paid before common shareholders. See: Preferred stock. of the holding company included in its CAD 1 billion preliminary short form base shelf prospectus. All ratings have a stable outlook. The FSR reflects ING Canada's superior capitalization; above average profitability; leading market position within the Canadian property/casualty industry; strong internal investment and claims management; knowledgeable executive management team experienced in growth through acquisitions; strong brand name recognition; advantages to market access through multiple channels of distribution; excellent geographic and product line diversification; and sound catastrophe management backed by a comprehensive 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. program. The rating also considers the added financial flexibility of ING Canada Inc. as a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. . The ING Canada group operates under a Participation Agreement, effectively spreading the net underwriting Underwriting 1. The process by which investment bankers raise investment capital from investors on behalf of corporations and governments that are issuing securities (both equity and debt). 2. The process of issuing insurance policies. risk of the group to each participating company, achieving a pooling effect through intercompany reinsurance. Partially offsetting these rating strengths is the current downturn in the industry underwriting cycle, primarily in commercial lines, and the uncertainty of the long-term impact on profitability due to regulatory actions to reform the automobile insurance product in most provinces. In addition, continued strong surplus growth due to operating profitability would be partially offset by dividend payments to ING Canada's shareholders. ING Canada is the largest property/casualty insurer in Canada, growing steadily through profitable operating performance and numerous acquisitions. Capitalization is strongly supported by the group's positive returns, especially over the last two years, and by the added financial flexibility of ING Canada Inc. as a publicly-traded company. The individual companies within the group provide localized expertise and flexible pricing in various geographic markets and allow ING Canada to deliver its products through multiple channels of distribution while maintaining strong relations with local brokers. Disciplined underwriting and pricing, conservative reserving and in-house claims handling have consistently resulted in better than average underwriting ratios. Geographic and product line diversification have mitigated volatility and lessened the effects of market cycle changes. Through a participation agreement, premiums and losses (including their runoffs) are spread to group members based upon fixed percentages determined by each company's relative equity position. The group employs sophisticated investment management by a company under common control, which has resulted in better than average returns and realized gains Realized Gain A gain resulting from selling an asset at a price higher than the original purchase price. Notes: There may be tax consequences for a realized profit. . ING Canada will remain challenged to continue its strong profitability during the current soft market cycle. Premium revenues could be hindered by automobile premium rate freezes and roll backs initiated by regulatory changes in most provinces. In addition, claims frequency rates may increase to more historical levels. However, A.M. Best anticipates continued strong profitability in the near term. 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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