A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Lloyd's Syndicate 609.

Affirms Issuer Credit Rating of Atrium Underwriting Plc

OLDWICK, NEW JERSEY -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the Best's Syndicate Rating of A (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of "a+" of Lloyd's Syndicate 609 (United Kingdom), which is managed by Atrium Underwriters Limited. At the same time, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of "bbb+" of Atrium Underwriting Plc (AUP) (United Kingdom), the non-operating holding company of the Atrium group of companies. The outlook for the ratings remains stable.

Syndicate 609's ratings reflect its strong prospective financial performance and specialist business profile, in addition to the financial strength of the Lloyd's market, which underpins the security of all Lloyd's syndicates.

A.M. Best believes that the diversification of syndicate 609's portfolio and its history of positive reserve development are reflected in a relatively low funds at Lloyd's (FAL) requirement in 2007 of 43% of capacity. Syndicate 609 has maintained its capacity at GBP 215 million (USD 420 million) for the 2007 underwriting year of account, which A.M. Best believes will enable it to take advantage of favourable underwriting conditions in its U.S. exposed property catastrophe lines, which are likely to be offset by softening in other areas of the account.

Syndicate 609's ratings also reflect strong anticipated performance in 2006 and further ahead despite a relatively weak performance likely for the 2005 underwriting year. This includes a good return on capacity of above 7.5% anticipated for the 2006 year of account due mainly to strong property catastrophe and energy rates for U.S. exposed risks and a benign hurricane season. However, the rating also factors the impact of the 2005 U.S. hurricane season on syndicate 609 (pure year losses of approximately 12% of its 2005 capacity are anticipated from this source), and the syndicate is likely to experience a significant overall loss of between 7%-12% of capacity for the 2005 year of account.

A.M. Best believes syndicate 609 benefits from writing a well-diversified specialist portfolio, in particular, its underwriting of marine hull, submarine cables and ports. Syndicate 609's business profile is further enhanced by writing a geographically diverse portfolio within other business lines including non-marine property, energy and aviation war.

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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.