Fitch Affirms Nationwide Mutual's IFS at 'AA-'.CHICAGO -- 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. affirmed the 'AA-' insurer financial strength ratings on Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company & Affiliated Companies is a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio. History Beginnings as Farm Bureau Mutual (NMIC NMIC National Meat Inspection Commission (Philippines) NMIC National Maritime Intelligence Center (Office of Naval Intelligence, Suitland, MD) NMIC Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation ) and its related intercompany pool members (collectively, Nationwide Mutual). In addition, Fitch affirmed the 'A+' issuer default rating to NMIC and the 'A' ratings on NMIC's outstanding surplus notes. The Rating Outlook is Stable. Fitch's rating actions reflect Nationwide Mutual's solid competitive position in personal lines insurance, conservative investment strategy, and favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. operating results. Ratings continue to be negatively impacted by the company's history of adverse reserve development from asbestos-related exposures and the possibility that this will negatively affect operating results and capital strength going forward. Results through the first nine months of 2006 showed solid 5% growth in net premiums written compared to the same period in 2005 primarily driven by commercial lines and homeowners increases. The trade combined ratio, excluding Nationwide Indemnity which houses the group's asbestos exposure, was 91% in 2006, representing a nearly 5 percentage point improvement from full year 2005. The active hurricane season Hurricane season refers to a period in a year when hurricanes usually form. For more information see: Tropical cyclone#Times of formation. For a lists of past seasons, see:
A measurement of the degree to which a firm or project relies on fixed rather than variable costs. Notes: The higher the degree of operating leverage, the greater the potential danger from forecasting risk. will remain materially unchanged as surplus growth keeps pace with premium growth. The potential for adverse prior accident-year reserve development related to asbestos-related reserves is factored into the current ratings, but remains a concern. Based in part on industry wide asbestos-related reserve data, Fitch has developed a targeted asbestos reserve survival ratio of approximately 14 times (x). Nationwide Group's asbestos survival ratio was 10x at year-end 2005 and would have to increase materially to meet Fitch's survival ratio guideline guideline Medtalk A series of recommendations by a body of experts in a particular discipline. See Cancer screening guidelines, Cardiac profile guidelines, Gatekeeper guidelines, Harvard guidelines, Transfusion guidelines. . Fitch affirms the following ratings with a Stable Outlook: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. --Insurer financial strength (IFS) affirmed at 'AA-'; --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. ) affirmed 'A+'. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Co. --IFS affirmed at 'AA-'. Scottsdale Insurance Co. --IFS affirmed at 'AA-'. Farmland Mutual Insurance Co. --IFS affirmed at 'AA-'. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. --8.25% surplus notes due Dec. 1, 2031 affirmed at 'A'; --7.875% surplus notes due April 1, 2033 affirmed at 'A'; --6.60% surplus notes due April 15, 2034 affirmed at 'A'. Fitch assigns the following rating with a Stable Outlook: Colonial County Mutual Insurance Company Nationwide Assurance Company Nationwide General Insurance Company Nationwide Lloyds Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company Titan Indemnity Company Titan Insurance Company Victoria Automobile Insurance Company Victoria Fire & Casualty Insurance Company Victoria Select Insurance Company Victoria Specialty insurance Company Scottsdale Indemnity Company Scottsdale Surplus Lines Insurance Company Western Heritage Insurance Company Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Company AMCO AMCO American Meter Company (Horsham, Pennsylvania) AMCO Aviation Maintenance Company AMCO Air Movement Control Officer AMCO Aerojet Manufacturing Company Insurance Company Depositors Insurance Company Nationwide Affinity Company --IFS 'AA-'. 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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