Fitch Affirms Jackson National Life 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 -- 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. has affirmed the issuer default rating (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. ) of Jackson National Life Jackson National Life Insurance is a U.S. life assurance company that is a subsidiary of the UK based insurer, Prudential Plc. Founded in 1961, Jackson is headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, and has over a thousand employees in the region. Insurance Company (JNL JNL Journal JNL Jackson National Life (insurance company; Lansing, MI; also seen as JNLIC) JNL JTIDS (Joint Tactical Information Distribution Systems) Network Library ) at 'AA-', and the insurer financial strength (IFS) ratings of JNL and its subsidiary, Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York (JNL-NY) at 'AA'. In addition, Fitch affirmed Jackson National's medium-term note Medium-term note (MTN) A corporate debt instrument that is continuously offered to investors over a period of time by an agent of the issuer. Investors can select from maturity bands of: 9 months to 1 year, more than 1 year to 18 months, more than 18 months to 2 years, etc. programs at 'AA' and the surplus note rating at 'A+'. A complete list of ratings follows at the end of this release. The ratings of JNL reflect the company's strong risk-based capital position, good operating results, diversified distribution and leading positions in its core retail annuity segment. Fitch views JNL as a core operating subsidiary of Prudential plc and a major contributor to Prudential's combined results. The rating of JNL's subsidiary, Jackson National Life of New York (JNL-NY), is based on explicit support from JNL and the company's strategic role selling JNL's products in the state of New York. JNL's risk-adjusted statutory capitalization (RBC RBC red blood cell. RBC or rbc abbr. red blood cell RBC, n See red blood cell count. RBC red blood cells; red blood (cell) count (see blood count). ) was 499% at year-end 2006, which is above expectations for the rating category. RBC is expected to remain at current levels through the end of 2007 net of a dividend to Prudential plc. JNL has been a consistent net generator of capital for the Prudential plc group over the past several years despite strong growth in its variable annuity line of business and the acquisition of Life of Georgia in 2005. JNL contributed over 35% and 44% of Pru plc's 2006 operating profit on an embedded value (EEV EEV European Embedded Value (EU insurance calculation standardization) EEV E-Energy Ventures Inc (stock symbol) EEV English Electric Valve EEV Equine Encephalitis Virus ) and International Financial Reporting Standards International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are standards and interpretations adopted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Many of the standards forming part of IFRS are known by the older name of International Accounting Standards (IAS). (IFRS IFRS International Financial Reporting Standard(s) IFRS Inter Frame Relay Service IFRS Indiana Facilities Registry System ) basis respectively. The results were driven by higher fee income related to variable annuities, improved fixed annuity spreads and continued strong expense management. Fitch's primary concern is JNL's concentration in the retail annuity segment, which is facing significant competitive and regulatory challenges. Fitch believes, however, that JNL is better positioned than many peers to meet these challenges. Fitch also notes a flat to declining trend in JNL's invested assets despite an improvement in investment yields and investment income. This reflects an industry-wide trend toward higher levels of fixed annuity surrenders in the current interest rate environment. The trend is expected to keep downward pressure on investment income. The company has improved fixed product spreads in part through lower crediting rates. In addition, JNL's investment returns have been supported over the past few years by strong results from its limited partnership investments, which may not be sustainable and favorable bond default experience. Fitch believes that JNL is well positioned in a consolidating financial services market due to its improving operating scale, low-cost structure, and strong distribution and technology capabilities. JNL also benefits from being part of a large well capitalized group, and the company is expected to remain a core part of Prudential plc. Based in Lansing, Michigan, JNL is one of the largest life insurance groups operating in the United States, with total statutory admitted assets and total adjusted capital of $75 billion and $4.4 billion, as of June 30, 2007, respectively, as of June 30, 2007. JNL is ultimately owned by London-based Prudential plc, a major global financial services organization with over $550 billion in total insurance and investment funds under management. Fitch has affirmed the following ratings: Jackson National Life Insurance Company --Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'AA-'. Jackson National Life Insurance Company --Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) at 'AA'. Jackson National Life Insurance Company --Surplus notes at 'A+'. Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York --IFS at 'AA'. Jackson National Life Funding, LLC --Medium-term notes at 'AA'. Jackson National Life Global Funding --Medium-term notes at 'AA'. The Outlook is Stable. 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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