A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to Partner Reinsurance Europe Limited.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has assigned a 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 an 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 "aa-" to Partner 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. Europe Limited (PREEL) (Republic of Ireland). The outlook for both ratings is stable. The ratings of PREEL are based on its initial strong risk-adjusted capitalisation, excellent business position, well diversified portfolio and its prominent role within the Bermudian-based PartnerRe Group, together with the support of Partner Reinsurance Ltd (Bermuda) through a quota share retrocession RETROCESSION, civil law. When the assignee of heritable rights conveys his rights back to the cedent, it is called a retrocession. Erskine, Prin. B. 3, t. 5, n. 1; Dict. do Jur. h.t. agreement. The rating also factors excellent pro forma net income in 2006 and 2007. PREEL will be fully operational from 1 January 2008 and will underwrite the existing portfolio of PartnerRe SA (France, and the Zurich branch of PartnerRe Ltd, with the exception of the Canadian life business, which will be directly managed by Partner Reinsurance Company Limited. A.M. Best expects PREEL's risk-adjusted capitalisation to reach a strong level in 2008, benefiting from approximately EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 950 million (USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 1.38 billion) initial capital and a 50% non capped quota share retrocession treaty with Partner Reinsurance Ltd on all business lines except Canada non life. The existing stop loss for the Canadian non-life portfolio remains unchanged. In A.M. Best's view, PartnerRe S.A. and PartnerRe's Zurich branch achieved excellent underwriting results in 2006 with a pro forma combined ratio of 87.7%, benefiting from a very mild windstorm wind·storm n. A storm with high winds or violent gusts but little or no rain. windstorm A storm with high winds or violent gusts but little or no rain. and hurricane season, while the first half of 2007 was very strong with a pro forma combined ratio at 91.5%, despite losses from Kyrill and the June UK floods. A.M. Best expects a similar result for the second half of 2007. PREEL's business plan for 2008-2009 is factoring a potential further softening of the specialty and property markets. A.M. Best expects the life segment to deliver a fair and sustainable technical result. In A.M. Best's view, the setting up of PREEL will enhance the business profile in the European market. The company will operate in all EU member states under a single regulatory framework, and other benefits will be to both simplify the capital structure and better manage the use and capital allocation within the PartnerRe group. PREEL will have branches in Zurich, Paris, Toronto, and an operational office in Dublin. The company will benefit from a highly diversified portfolio, with a strong emphasis on specialties (42%), the remaining being split between property (23%), life (24%), motor (6%) and casualty (5%). In the life business, the company is mainly focused on mortality protection (80% of the premium) with a smaller share in annuity business. PREEL is expecting to write approximately 60% of PartnerRe Group's gross premiums written When a non-life insurance company closes a contract to provide insurance against loss, the revenues (premiums) expected to be received over the life of the contract are called gross premiums written. (GPW GPW Gridded Population of the World GPW Gross Premiums Written GPW Gross Product Worth GPW Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 12 August 1949 GPW General Purpose Warehouse GPW Grand Prix White (Honda) ), amounting to EUR 1.6 billion (USD 2.3 billion) of GPW in 2008, remaining stable compared to the 2007 pro forma. 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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