Fitch Affirms Lafayette Life Insurance Company At 'A'.Business Editors CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2004 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 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 'A' insurer financial strength rating of The Lafayette Life Insurance Company (Lafayette). The Rating Outlook is Stable. The company's strong rating is supported by its conservative product profile, consistent profitability, strong 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. and conservative management team. The company's focus on traditional life insurance and fixed annuities Fixed annuities Contracts in which an insurance company or issuing financial institution pays a fixed dollar amount of money per period. has served it well in avoiding some of the equity market-related problems faced by other industry participants in recent years, and has allowed the company to produce moderate, relatively consistent operating earnings Operating Earnings Profits after subtracting expenses such as marketing, cost of goods sold, administration and general operating costs from revenue. Notes: Tax and interest expenses are not subtracted - operating earnings are synonymous with EBIT (earnings before over the past decade. Lafayette's rating also reflects the company's limited scale relative to many of its competitors, which presents challenges with regard to distribution, expense levels and capacity for growth. In addition, the company's group life insurance operation, which accounted for approximately 8% of total premiums in 2003, continues to produce poor results for the company. Lafayette, which is based in Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette (IPA: [ˈlɑ.fəˌjɛt]) is a city in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, U.S., 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Indianapolis. , was established in 1905 as a mutual life insurance company. It specializes in life insurance and annuities for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses, primarily in rural and suburban areas. At year-end 2003, the company had total admitted assets of $1.60 billion and capital and surplus of $105 million. Entity/Issue/Type Action Rating/Outlook Lafayette Life Insurance Company --Insurer financial strength Affirmed 'A'/Stable. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion