A.M. Best Takes Various Ratings Actions on Citigroup Insurance Subsidiaries; Removes from Under Review and Assigns Stable Outlook.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has downgraded 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. ) to A+ (Superior) from A++ (Superior) and assigned 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" to Primerica Life Insurance Company (Duluth, GA) and its subsidiary, National Benefit Life Insurance Company (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 , NY). A.M. Best has also affirmed the FSR of A+ (Superior) and assigned an ICR of "aa" to Primerica Life Insurance Company of Canada (Ontario). These companies are part of the Primerica Group (Primerica). The FSRs have been removed from under review, and all ratings have been assigned a stable outlook. These rating revisions were made principally because these entities are no longer organized under a larger insurance operation, due to the recent sale of Travelers Life & Annuity by Citigroup (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : C). Consequently, A.M. Best notes the reduced financial impact of Citigroup's insurance operations. The ratings also consider that Primerica's mono-line product focus is based on a commodity product--term life insurance--on which it is dependent for earnings generation. This business profile did not support an A++ rating on a stand-alone basis. Despite these rating actions, A.M. Best continues to recognize Primerica's dedicated distribution source of over 100,000 licensed representatives in Primerica Financial Services Primerica Financial Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Citigroup, is a multi-level marketing[1] company headquartered in Duluth, Georgia. It is the largest financial services marketing organization in North America, with more than 100,000 licensed independent (PFS PFS, n post facilitation stretch; therapeutic approach utilized during proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in which the patient begins the stretch midway between the fully relaxed and fully stretched position and uses maximum level of effort to ), which provides cross-marketing opportunities for Citigroup's products including mutual funds and loans. The current ratings continue to reflect Primerica's favorable operating gains on its established term life operations, superior risk-adjusted capitalization on both an individual and group basis and strong liquidity in its investment portfolio. The ratings also consider the substantial distribution platform provided to PFS. Additionally, A.M. Best has downgraded the FSRs to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and assigned ICRs of "a" to American Health American Health Inc. is a company that manufactures health supplements. It is located in Holbrook, New York. One of its products is labeled the "Chewable Original Papaya Enzyme" with the attached registered trademark, "The 'After Meal Supplement'". and Life Insurance Company (AHL AHL American Hockey League AHL Action Half-Life (Half-Life modification) AHL Acyl Homoserine Lactone AHL Aramark Harrison Lodging AHL Acylated Homoserine Lactone AHL Association for the History of Language AHL Architects Hawaii Ltd ) and its subsidiary, Sears Life Insurance Company (both of Fort Worth, TX). These companies will remain part of Citigroup's credit insurance operations. All ratings have a stable outlook. The downgrades reflect the challenges in the credit insurance market. Historically, AHL had been a credit insurance writer and had experienced rapidly declining premiums in recent years. This business profile does not support a Superior rating on a stand-alone basis. Additionally, A.M. Best notes that these entities are no longer organized under a larger insurance operation. The ratings also reflect the consistently strong earnings performance, favorable balance sheet quality and liquidity, the strong level of risk-adjusted capitalization and the competitive advantage derived from the sale of the company's products through Citigroup affiliates. These companies--which are moving towards a focus on supplemental insurance products--enjoy full access to the customers of their Citigroup affiliates for distribution. For Best's Ratings Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. , an overview of the rating process and rating methodologies, please visit http://www.ambest.com/ratings. 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 http://www.ambest.com. |
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