A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of A (Excellent) 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 "a+" of Standard Insurance Company (Standard Insurance) (Portland, OR) and The Standard Life 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 (White Plains, NY), both wholly owned insurance subsidiaries of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (StanCorp) (Portland, OR) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : SFG SFG StanCorp Financial Group SFG San Francisco Giants (baseball team) SFG Special Forces Group SFG Sum Frequency Generation SFG Square Foot Gardening SFG Symmetrical Field Geometry (JBL speaker technology) ). Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of "bbb+" and the debt ratings of "bbb+" on existing unsecured senior notes and "bbb-" on the junior subordinated debentures subordinated debenture An unsecured bond with a claim to assets that is subordinate to all existing and future debt. Thus, in the event that the issuer encounters financial difficulties and must be liquidated, all other claims must be satisfied before of StanCorp. The outlook for all ratings is stable. (See below for a detailed list of the ratings.) Standard Insurance's rating affirmations reflect its established presence in the employee benefits market, continued positive earnings and favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. risk-adjusted capitalization at the operating subsidiaries An operating subsidiary is a business term frequently used within the United States railroad industry. In the case of a railroad, it refers to a company that is a subsidiary but operates with its own identity and rolling stock. and its conservative level of financial leverage. Standard Insurance has historically generated positive earnings, and while the company has some diversification through its individual and retirement plans businesses, premium revenue and earnings are predominately driven by its employee benefits business. Although revenue growth has increased year over year, new sales premiums in its core employee benefit lines have slowed somewhat due to the competitive market environment. Additionally, Standard Insurance continues to utilize a disciplined pricing strategy, which favors profitability over top-line growth, contributing to a decrease in new sales. First quarter 2007 earnings results were partially impacted by comparatively unfavorable claim experience in Standard Insurance's group insurance business, which was offset by better than expected claim experience for its individual disability insurance. A.M. Best believes Standard Insurance's full year benefit ratio will be in line with its stated projections. However, A.M. Best anticipates Standard Insurance will continue to be challenged for new business growth in the near future. StanCorp's insurance subsidiaries are favorably fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. capitalized and have provided dividend support to service outstanding debt and pay stockholder dividends. A.M. Best anticipates StanCorp's adjusted financial leverage to remain under 25%, and its coverage ratio will remain more than adequate. A.M. Best remains concerned with Standard Insurance's significant exposure to investments in its commercial mortgage loans and its geographic concentration in California. Standard Insurance has historically reported very favorable results with few delinquencies, and it maintains a niche market A niche market also known as a target market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector. By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers. in smaller-sized loans, where traditionally, there has been less competition. However, A.M. Best has observed that more lenders are focusing on this segment of the market, which has made for a more competitive environment. The following debt ratings have been affirmed: StanCorp Financial Group, Inc.-- --"bbb+" on $250 million 6.875% senior unsecured notes, due 2012 --"bbb-" on $300 million 6.875% junior subordinated debentures, due 2067 The following indicative debt ratings have been affirmed under the shelf registration: StanCorp Financial Group, Inc.-- -- "bbb+" on senior unsecured debt -- "bbb" on subordinated debt -- "bbb-" on preferred stock 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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