A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of PartnerRe & Subsidiaries

May 26, 2017

A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” of Bermuda-based Partner Reinsurance Co. Ltd. and its affiliates (collectively referred to as PartnerRe).

A.M. Best has also affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “bbb+” of PartnerRe Ltd. (also domiciled in Bermuda) and its existing Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings. The outlook of these credit ratings is stable.

The ratings reflect PartnerRe’s strong risk-adjusted capitalization, well diversified book of business, global business profile and earnings capacity, according to the ratings company.

A.M. Best noted that the stability afforded to PartnerRe under its new owner, EXOR N.V., also is reflected in its ratings’ viewpoint.

“PartnerRe maintains a highly diversified book of reinsurance business across both non-life and life lines of business, as well as a balanced geographic spread of risk,” said A.M. Best in a statement.

It noted that it has some “lingering concerns about PartnerRe’s focus on reinsurance due to the very challenging market conditions.”

However, PartnerRe’s current strategy to build its life and health business could provide diversification to offset these business challenges, A.M. Best said.

Under EXOR’s ownership, “A.M. Best believes that PartnerRe’s financial flexibility will be maintained as it still has access to the capital markets on a stand-alone basis, as well as potentially through EXOR N.V., which is a publicly traded company in Italy.”

In addition, A.M. Best said that PartnerRe maintains “a strong risk management infrastructure that is embedded throughout the organization,” which is needed given the level of complexity of the group’s risk profile.

“Rating factors that could lead to a positive outlook or rating upgrade would be successful build-out of its distribution platforms, long-term, consistently strong operating profitability and maintaining excellent risk-adjusted capital levels through various market conditions,” A.M. Best continued.

Source: A.M. Best