Correction - Fitch Affirms PartnerRe's Ratings; Outlook Stable.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 -- (This is a correction to the original release, which corrects the IDR IDR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Indonesian Rupiah. 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. rating in the list below to 'AA-') Fitch Ratings Fitch Ratings An international rating agency for financial institutions, insurance companies, and corporate, sovereign, and municipal debt. Fitch Ratings has headquarters in New York and London and is wholly owned by FIMALAC of Paris. today affirmed af·firm v. af·firmed, af·firm·ing, af·firms v.tr. 1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true. 2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm. v.intr. the 'AA' Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of 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. Company (Partner Reinsurance). Fitch also affirmed the various ratings of Partner Reinsurance's parent company PartnerRe Ltd. (PartnerRe), including the 'AA-' Issuer Default Rating (IDR), as well as 'A' ratings assigned to PartnerRe's cumulative redeemable preferred securities and the trust preferred securities of PartnerRe Capital Trust I. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Fitch's very strong IDR and IFS ratings for Partner Reinsurance reflect the company's conservative investment strategy, reserve strength, low level of reinsurance recoverables, and low reliance on retrocessional reinsurance. Additionally, Fitch believes Partner Reinsurance has relatively lower exposure to legacy issues such as asbestos. Fitch also notes that as of year-end 2005, the company had grown its common equity at a compound annual growth rate of 14% since year-end 2001, despite suffering $900 million of catastrophe losses in 2005. Absent unusually large catastrophe losses, Fitch expects PartnerRe to post strong results through the remainder of 2006. Fitch's ratings also consider Partner Reinsurance's relatively higher exposure to low-frequency but high-severity events, an exposure highlighted by recent hurricane losses. Fitch recognizes that PartnerRe's results over the past five years have been relatively more volatile than many of its 'AA' rated peers. This volatility has been largely the result of proportionally higher catastrophe losses as a percent of PartnerRe's total capital and normalized earnings Normalized Earnings 1. Earnings adjusted for cyclical ups and downs in the economy. 2. On the balance sheet, earnings adjusted to remove unusual or one-time influences. Notes: An example would be removing a land sale in which a large capital gain was realized. base. Fitch recognizes PartnerRe's exposure to low-frequency, high-severity events and expects PartnerRe to have an occasional loss year offset by generally strong profits in most years. As a result, PartnerRe's ratings may be under downward pressure if the company's average earnings do not return to a level commensurate com·men·su·rate adj. 1. Of the same size, extent, or duration as another. 2. Corresponding in size or degree; proportionate: a salary commensurate with my performance. 3. with an 'AA' rating. Fitch affirms the following, with a Stable Outlook: Partner Reinsurance Company --IFS at 'AA'. PartnerRe Ltd. --IDR at 'AA-'; --US$290 million 6.75% series C cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred securities at 'A'; --US$230 million 6.5% series D cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred securities at 'A'; PartnerRe Capital Trust I --US$200 million 7.9% Trust preferred securities due Dec. 31, 2031 at 'A'. Fitch's rating definitions and the terms of use Terms of Use are rules set up by the owner of an intellectual property or service to govern how they may be legally used. In many cases, terms of service are used as a contractual agreement between a company and users of a service they provide. of such ratings are available on the agency's public site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies are available from this site, at all times. Fitch's code of conduct, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, affiliate firewall, compliance and other relevant policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental are also available from the 'Code of Conduct' section of this site. |
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