A.M. Best Affirms Ratings Of Arch Capital

Rating company A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A+ and the issuer credit ratings of “aa-” of Arch Reinsurance Ltd. and its strategic affiliates.

A.M. Best also has affirmed the ICR of “bbb+” of Arch Capital Group [US] Inc. [Delaware]. Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the ICR of “a-” as well as all debt ratings of the ultimate holding company, Arch Capital Group Ltd. The outlook for all ratings is stable.

A statement from the ratings agency said, “The affirmations reflect Arch’s continued superior operating performance, consistently excellent capitalization and demonstrated enterprise risk management [ERM]. The ratings also acknowledge the depth and experience of the organization’s management team.

“Arch maintains a very strong underwriting culture and focuses on actively managing the cycle. The company is capable of writing a broad range of property/casualty insurance and reinsurance on a worldwide basis and focuses on specialty lines. Arch Capital recently acquired a mortgage insurance operating platform, which will serve as the foundation for Arch to enter the U.S. mortgage insurance market and further diversify its product offerings.

“Since Arch’s inception, overall operating results have been strong and certain metrics have exceeded most peers in the sector. In addition, Arch has historically reported stable and consistent financial results with lower levels of volatility than many of its peers. Arch has maintained a prudent investment portfolio and conservative reserving philosophy, which helps to uphold its balance sheet strength. Underpinning all of Arch’s activities is that the organization has successfully evolved its ERM framework over time as the company continues to become more complex.

“Partially offsetting these positive rating attributes are the current soft market conditions through which Arch, as well as all industry participants, must navigate.

“Factors that could result in negative rating pressure include unfavorable operating profitability trends, outsized catastrophe or investment losses relative to Arch’s peers, significant adverse loss reserve development and/or a material decline in risk-adjusted capital. However, factors that could lead to a positive outlook or rating upgrades would be the continuation of long term, consistently strong operating profitability relative to its peers and maintenance of strong risk-adjusted capital levels.”

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Category: All, Business