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 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 (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 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 :KCLI) and its subsidiary, Sunset Life Insurance Company of America. Additionally, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of B++ (Very 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 group's continued strengthening in its capital and risk-based capital position, conservative balance sheet management, stable cash flow from operations Cash flow from operations A firm's net cash inflow resulting directly from its regular operations (disregarding extraordinary items such as the sale of fixed assets or transaction costs associated with issuing securities), calculated as the sum of net income plus noncash expenses and strong statutory profitability. With minimal debt and access to borrowing facilities at favorable rates, Kansas City Life employs prudent cash management that enhances investment returns, which are consistently above the life/health industry average. Additionally, Kansas City Life's recruitment of middle-market general agents as its core distribution focus, along with its secondary distribution channel of marketing agreements with non-life insurance carriers, continues to result in individual life sales growth. Offsetting these positive rating factors are the five-year declining trend in premium and deposits, interest rate sensitivity due to increased 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. As for Old American Life, A.M. Best believes that the company must reverse the declining trend in its 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. For current Best's Ratings, independent data and analysis on more than 1,100 individual life/health companies and A.M. Best groups, please visit www.ambest.com/lh. 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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