INSURANCE COMPANY FINANCIAL STRENGTH RATINGS - Q1 2019
ALL CLIENT POLICIES ARE UNDERWRITTEN
BY TOP-TIER LIFE INSURANCE PROVIDERS
VIEWPOINT
2019 JAN 11
WESTWARD’S VIEW
The financial strength of insurance companies is regularly assessed by trusted statistical rating organizations. Westward monitors these assessments to ensure that our clients’ policies are underwritten by top-tier providers.
Worth noting, A.M. Best measures a company’s ability to pay claims and also rates the financial instruments issued by the insurance company. It is widely considered to provide the most comprehensive assessment because it focuses exclusively on the insurance marketplace.
Moody’s and S&P rate some of the Canadian insurers and all the Canadian banks.
All insurers except ivari have top financial strength ratings that equal or exceed the ratings of the top five banks in Canada.
The opinions expressed in this memorandum are strictly those of Westward Advisors Ltd. This memorandum is for information purposes only and is not legal or tax advice.
The above financial strength ratings assess an insurer's ability to meet its obligations to policyholders by three well-known rating agencies. The rating process involves quantitative and qualitative reviews of a company's balance sheet, operating performance and business profile, including comparisons to peers and several other factors. All ratings remained the same over Q4 2018. Westward sources the ratings from the most current information published on each insurer’s website.
A.M. Best: Companies rated from B+ (good) through A++ (superior) are considered to be “secure.” A.M. Best rating definitions.
Moody’s: Companies rated from A (upper medium grade) through Aaa (highest quality) are considered “low credit risk.” A modifier of 1 indicates the higher end of a category, and a 3 indicates the lower end of a category. Moody's rating definitions.
Standard & Poor’s: Companies rated AAA, AA, A, or BBB have respectively “extremely strong,” “very strong,” “strong” or "adequate" capacity to meet financial commitments. A modifier of plus (+) or minus (-) shows the relative standing within the rating categories.