A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Max Re Ltd and Max Re Capital Ltd. and Assigns Ratings to European Operations.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- (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (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 "a-" for Max Re Ltd. (Max Re). A.M. Best has also affirmed the ICR of "bbb-" of Max Re Capital Ltd. (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 : MXRE) (both of Hamilton, Bermuda). Concurrently, A.M. Best has assigned an FSR of A- (Excellent) and an ICR of "a-" to Max Re Europe Limited and Max Insurance Europe Limited (both of Dublin, Ireland). All ratings have a stable outlook. These ratings reflect Max Re's business profile, which includes capped traditional and finite property/casualty products, improved operating results and experienced management and 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. teams. The geographically diversified book of business, which predominately contains long-tail casualty lines, is fully supported by the company's excellent level of risk-based capitalization. Lines of business include professional liability, general liability, aviation and marine, workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. and medical malpractice Improper, unskilled, or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional. lines. Max Re's operations include a significant portion of life and annuity business, which focuses on existing blocks of business where risk is generally reinsured on the same basis as the original policy. Life and annuity 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. products may include individual and group disability, whole life, universal life, structured settlements and others. In response to more attractive property/casualty premium rates over the past several years, Max Re's successful transition to more traditional reinsurance products have produced combined ratios well below 100% for the segment and driven combined ratios below 100% for the entire organization. The improved operating results have been complemented by the performance of Max Re's alternative investment portfolio, which includes highly diversified and closely managed hedge funds hedge fund, in finance, a highly speculative, largely unregulated investment device. Originating in the 1950s, the funds "hedge" by offsetting "short" positions (borrowing a security and then selling it at a higher price before repaying the lender) against "long" . Partially offsetting these strengths is Max Re's finite risk and capped multi-year reinsurance business profile and the heightened level of scrutiny of this market by state and federal regulators. The viability of finite products will remain uncertain until current government scrutiny is completed and any new requirements regarding finite products are established. Also, the predominately long-tail casualty orientation of Max Re's property/casualty book of business may not make pricing and reserve adequacy apparent for several years. Furthermore, A.M. Best believes that the potential variability of Max Re's alternative investment portfolio introduces an elevated risk factor to the company; however, this elevated risk factor is included in Max Re's risk-based capital model. A.M. Best will continue to closely monitor Max Re's operations and performance, along with developments in the finite insurance market. For Best's Ratings Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. , an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit http://www.ambest.com/ratings. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 330 reinsurance companies, please visit http://www.ambest.com/reinsurance/. 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 http://www.ambest.com. |
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