Associates Financial Life Ins Asgnd 'Api' Rtg by S&P.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 1998-- NY -- Standard & Poor's CreditWire 10/2/98 - Standard & Poor's today assigned its single-'A' insurer financial strength rating to Associates Financial Life Insurance Co. Associates Financial Life Insurance is licensed in all states except 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 , and commenced operations in 1960. The company is a subsidiary of Associates Corp. of North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , a consumer and commercial finance organization indirectly owned by Ford Motor Co. Associates Financial Life Insurance writes almost exclusively credit life and credit accident and health insurance for the customers of its finance affiliates through their branch networks. The following factors were incorporated in the single-'Api' rating: -- Capitalization is extremely strong, as indicated by Standard & Poor's capital adequacy ratio Capital adequacy ratio (CAR), also called Capital to Risk (Weighted) Assets Ratio (CRAR)[], is a ratio of a bank's capital to its risk. National regulators track a bank's CAR to ensure that it can absorb a reasonable amount of loss. of more than 300%. -- The company has strong liquidity, with a liquidity ratio of in excess of 300%. -- Standard & Poor' s believes that the company is strategically important to its parent, Associates Corp. of North America, whic } has a senior debt rating of double-'A'-minus, and therefore group support is a factor in the rating. -- Return on assets Return on assets (ROA) Indicator of profitability. Determined by dividing net income for the past 12 months by total average assets. Result is shown as a percentage. ROA can be decomposed into return on sales (net income/sales) multiplied by asset utilization (sales/assets). has displayed volatility over the past five years. -- Net investment income yield has displayed volatility over the past five years. 'Pi' ratings, denoted with a pi subscript (1) In word processing and scientific notation, a digit or symbol that appears below the line; for example, H2O, the symbol for water. Contrast with superscript. (2) In programming, a method for referencing data in a table. , are insurer financial strength ratings based on an analysis of an insurer's published financial information and additional information in the public domain. They do not reflect in-depth meetings with an insurer's management and are therefore based on less comprehensive information than ratings without a pi subscript. Pi ratings are reviewed annually based on a new year's financial statements, but may be reviewed on an interim basis if a major event that may affect the insurer's financial security occurs. Ratings with a pi subscript are not subject to potential CreditWatch listings. Ratings with a pi subscript generally are not modified with 'plus' or 'minus' designations. However, such designations may be assigned when the insurer's financial strength rating is constrained con·strain tr.v. con·strained, con·strain·ing, con·strains 1. To compel by physical, moral, or circumstantial force; oblige: felt constrained to object. See Synonyms at force. 2. by sovereign risk Sovereign Risk The risk that a foreign central bank will alter its foreign-exchange regulations thereby significantly reducing or completely nulling the value of foreign-exchange contracts. or the credit quality of a parent company or affiliated group, Standard & Poor's said. -- CreditWire |
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