Fitch Upgrades Conseco Inc.'s Debt & IFS Ratings.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. has upgraded Conseco Inc.'s (Conseco) senior secured debt facility, senior unsecured debt Unsecured debt Debt that does not identify specific assets that the debtholder is entitled to in case of default. facility, and preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. securities. At the same time, Fitch is upgrading the insurer financial strength rating of most of CNO's primary insurance operating subsidiaries and affirming the rating of others. The Rating Outlook is Stable. All affected ratings are listed below. Fitch's upgrades reflect Conseco's improved capital base, financial flexibility, good market position in the Medicare supplement business, and high quality investment portfolio. During 2005 Conseco's consolidated statutory risk based 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). ) improved from 318% to an estimated 358% at Dec. 31, 2005. At the same time equity adjusted financial leverage improved from 20% to a moderate 15.9%. The ratings are further supported by the company's strong Bankers Life operations and the improved clarity and favorable outcome of issues involving its Net Operating Loss operating loss The excess of operating expenses over revenue. As with operating income, operating losses exclude revenues and expenses from operations that are not considered a regular part of the business. Also called deficit. Compare operating income. (NOL NOL - Never Offline ) tax position. Conseco also exceeded its expense savings goals for 2005. The upgraded rating of Conseco Life Insurance Company of 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 reflects its transition to a position as a direct subsidiary of Conseco Life Insurance Company of Texas. The unchanged rating of its former parent, Conseco Senior Health Insurance Company, continues to reflect the performance of the Florida long-term care market and its own low capital levels. Overall ratings concerns for Conseco include the impact of changes in the Medicare Supplement environment and spread compression resulting from low interest rate conditions. Fitch also remains watchful of CNO's performance against debt covenants. Fitch expects that the company will continue to achieve its expense savings goals, maintain a high quality investment portfolio, and maintain fixed charge coverage of greater than 8.0 times (x) in the near term, and total equity adjusted leverage of under 25%. Conseco, Inc. is the holding company for a group of insurance companies selling supplemental health, life, and annuity insurance products, focused on the senior and middle income markets. As of Dec. 31, 2005 it had an estimated $4.5 billion in shareholders equity and $31.6 billion in assets. Conseco, Inc. --Senior secured debt Upgrade 'BBB-'Stable Outlook; --Senior unsecured debt Upgrade 'BB' Stable Outlook; --Preferred stock Upgrade 'BB-'Stable Outlook; --Issuer default rating Assign 'BB+' Stable Outlook. Bankers Life and Casualty Bankers Life and Casualty is primarily a health insurance company in the United States. It was founded in 1879 and was previously known as White Cross. It was formerly owned by millionaire investor John D. Insurance Company --Insurer financial strength rating Upgrade 'BBB+'/Stable Outlook. Conseco Life Insurance Company Conseco Life Insurance Company of New York Conseco Insurance Company Conseco Health Insurance Company Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company Washington National Insurance Company -- Insurer financial strength rating Upgrade 'BBB'/Stable Outlook. Conseco Senior Health Insurance Company -- Insurer financial strength rating Affirm 'B-'/Stable Outlook. 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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