A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of the Kansas City Life Group of Companies.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 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 Kansas City Life Insurance Company Kansas City Life Insurance Company is a public insurance company established in 1895 and located in Kansas City, Missouri. The company's 1,400 agents market individual life, annuity and group products through agencies located in 48 US states and the District of Columbia. (Kansas City Life) (NASDAQ NASDAQin 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 : KCLI) and its subsidiary, Sunset Life Insurance Company of America. Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of B++ (Good) and ICR of "bbb+" of Old American Insurance Company (Old American), the group's final expense life insurance subsidiary. The outlook for all ratings is stable. All companies are located in Kansas City, MO. The ratings reflect the continued strengthening of the group's absolute and risk-adjusted capital positions, solid investment returns and strong statutory profitability. With no long-term debt Long-Term Debt Loans and financial obligations lasting over one year. Notes: For example debts obligations such as bonds and notes which have maturities greater than one year would be considered long-term debt. , an investment portfolio predominately comprised of publicly traded investment grade bonds and access to borrowing facilities at favorable rates, Kansas City Life continues to maintain a strong liquidity profile. Additionally, Kansas City Life's primary distribution strategy of recruiting middle market general agents, along with its secondary distribution strategy focused on marketing agreements with non-life insurance carriers, has facilitated individual life sales growth. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are the overall declining trend in premium and deposits, its exposure to interest rate sensitivity due to its fixed deferred annuity Deferred Annuity A type of annuity contract that delays payments of income, installments or a lump sum until the investor elects to receive them. This type of annuity has two main phases, the savings phase in which you invest money into the account, and the income phase in which balances without surrender charge Surrender Charge A fee levied on a life insurance policyholder upon cancellation of his or her life insurance policy. The fee is used to cover the costs of keeping the insurance policy on the insurance provider's books. protection and continued losses from the group insurance segment. In addition, Kansas City Life lacks sufficient scale in its accident and health lines, as well as in its variable life and annuity businesses. A.M. Best notes that, although Kansas City Life has introduced a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit for its variable annuity Variable Annuity An insurance contract in which, at the end of the accumulation stage, the insurance company guarantees a minimum payment. The remaining income payments can vary depending on the performance of the managed portfolio. products, earnings from this line are not expected to be material over the near term. Additionally, Old American remains challenged to consistently grow new and renewal premiums, while minimizing the statutory strain from new business in order to ensure long-term capital growth. For Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit www.ambest.com/ratings. Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. |
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