A.M. Best Upgrades Rating of Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A.M. Best Co. has upgraded 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 B+ (Good) from B (Fair) and has assigned 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 "bbb-" to Grain Dealers Mutual Insurance Company (Grain Dealers) (Indianapolis, IN). The outlook for the FSR has been revised to stable from positive, and the outlook assigned to the ICR is stable. These rating actions reflect Grain Dealers' strong and significantly improved risk-adjusted capitalization capitalization n. 1) the act of counting anticipated earnings and expenses as capital assets (property, equipment, fixtures) for accounting purposes. 2) the amount of anticipated net earnings which hypothetically can be used for conversion into capital assets. , management's actions designed to reduce exposures to natural catastrophe events and the company's improving risk management's initiatives. Offsetting these positive rating factors are Grain Dealers' historically weak operating results, elevated (although improving) 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. leverage, exposure to natural catastrophes and uncompetitive expense structure. Following years of volatile earnings due to natural catastrophes and several one-time expenses, all reflective Refers to light hitting an opaque surface such as a printed page or mirror and bouncing back. See reflective media and reflective LCD. of a lack of adequate risk management procedures in the past, management restructured Grain Dealers' catastrophe 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. program to include significantly higher levels of protection and pulled back from hurricane-exposed coastal regions. In addition, an improved level of risk management procedures has been implemented. As a result, it is expected that earnings volatility will be reduced going forward. Grain Dealers is a multiple line carrier providing coverage primarily in the Southeast and Midwest with a premium-based business mix of roughly 65% commercial and 35% personal lines. The company's production emphasis in recent years has continued to be small to mid-sized commercial business. 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 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. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion