A.M. Best Affirms Ratings to The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.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+ (Superior) 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 "aa-" of the Hartford Insurance Pool (The Pool) and its members. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of "a-", the senior debt ratings of "a-" and the indicative debt ratings under the shelf registration for The Hartford 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. Group, Inc. (The Hartford) (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : HIG HIG Human immunoglobulin, see there ) (both of Hartford, CT). All ratings have a stable outlook. (See link below for a detailed list of the ratings.) The ratings reflect The Pool's superior capitalization, very strong operating results and excellent business position in the property/casualty insurance sector. The Pool enjoys significant operational breadth and depth and utilizes its broad product offerings and distribution capabilities to effectively respond to market trends. Despite record industry catastrophe losses, The Pool generated excellent 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. results and reported a year-end 2005 combined ratio of 93.3 with strong operating momentum continuing through first quarter 2006. Somewhat offsetting these strengths are The Pool's continued exposure to prior accident year loss reserve development, increasing pace of price softening in most property/casualty markets and modest concerns pertaining per·tain intr.v. per·tained, per·tain·ing, per·tains 1. To have reference; relate: evidence that pertains to the accident. 2. to the various subpoenas that The Hartford has received in relation to various regulatory probes, which have occurred throughout the insurance industry. Recently, The Hartford announced it had reached an agreement with Equitas, and all Lloyds' syndicates reinsured by Equitas, which resolves the company's ceded and assumed domestic 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. exposures with Equitas, including exposures under the company's Blanket Casualty Treaty. The Hartford also announced it will record a $243 million pretax pre·tax adj. Existing before tax deductions: pretax income. pretax adj [profit] → vor (Abzug der) Steuern charge against second quarter earnings in conjunction with the Equitas commutation and its annual review of all reinsurance recoverables and the allowance for uncollectible reinsurance. Although this charge will affect results for the second quarter, A.M. Best believes that the settlement reduces uncertainty pertaining to reinsurance recoverables and the company's current earnings strength will largely minimize the impact on full year results. In addition, The Hartford completed an annual review of its asbestos reserves, which resulted in no charge and a review of reserves related to The Hartford's assumed reinsurance book, which resulted in no material impact to earnings. A.M. Best believes The Pool's earnings are exposed to claims development related to asbestos and environmental (A&E), assumed reinsurance (in run-off since 2003) and prior accident year casualty loss reserves. However, A.M. Best maintains that The Hartford is among the most proactive U.S. insurers in addressing loss reserve deficiencies reserve deficiency A shortage in funds set aside as a reserve for a specific purpose. For example, during a recession a firm may find the reserve fund covering allowance for bad debts deficient when the amount of bad debts exceeds expectations. . A ground up review of environmental claims is expected to be completed by the end of third quarter 2006. The Hartford continues to reduce its financial leverage profile as noted by total adjusted debt-to-capital measures at approximately 20% as of March 31, 2006 with continued strong interest coverage measures. In past years, The Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Hartford's financial leverage had historically been at the high-end of the acceptable range of A.M. Best's tolerance for debt ratings. Although hurricane losses impacted results in 2005 and 2004, The Hartford has demonstrated expertise with regard to managing the various risks across its enterprise. With regard to catastrophe management, The Hartford assesses its risks on both a gross and net basis as a percentage of surplus and has a reinsurance program that has provided adequate protection from the hurricane activity of the last two years. For a complete list of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.'s FSRs, ICRs and debt ratings, please visit www.ambest.com/press/062802hartford.pdf. 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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