Latest S&P Headlines
All the headlines from our S&P Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Why Isn’t Current Pricing Pain Impacting Reinsurers’ Ratings? – Litmus Analysis
Jul 16 2014 // Since the disappointing pricing at the 1.1. renewal the bad news on reinsurance pricing has kept on coming. April, June and July renewals were all reported as materially down by the major brokers. S&P adopted a...
S&P Affirms Argo Group US & Operating Companies Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 16 2014 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on U.S.-based intermediary holding company Argo Group US Inc. (AGUS) and its U.S. operating subsidiaries to stable from negative. S&P also affirmed...
S&P Green Lighting Climate Risk Mitigation
Jul 10 2014 // How a company manages its risk in the face of a changing global climate is slated to become an ever-greater factor in a company’s worth. Today’s business leaders, whether or not they believe in climate change,...
Climate Change Bottom-Line Talk Grows, S&P Director Says
Jul 7 2014 // Companies and governments worldwide are changing their behaviors and examining their risks in the face of climate change, a managing director for Standard & Poor’s said, holding up the insurance industry as a...
Climate Change Bottom-Line Talk Grows, S&P Director Says
Jun 18 2014 // Companies and governments worldwide are changing their behaviors and examining their risks in the face of climate change, a managing director for Standard & Poor’s said as he held up the insurance industry as a...
One Catastrophe Won’t Scare Away Alternative Capital: S&P Panelists
Jun 9 2014 // Catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance have surged to record levels this year thanks to the continuing influx of alternative capital into the reinsurance market, leaving credit analysts and...
S&P Panel Urges Insurers to Seek Better Returns Globally
Jun 9 2014 // “Continuing low interest rates and soft economic growth are contributing to a tough investment climate for insurance companies, but they’re still finding opportunities for a decent return if they’re...
S&P Loses Bid to Keep 16 States’ Lawsuits Over Ratings in Federal Court
Jun 5 2014 // Standard & Poor’s suffered a defeat on Tuesday in litigation accusing it of issuing misleading credit ratings prior to the 2008 financial crisis, as a federal judge ruled that lawsuits by 16 U.S. states and...
S&P Report Finds Companies Are Starting To Assess Climate Risks
May 22 2014 // A report – “Dealing With Disaster: How Companies Are Starting To Assess Their Climate Event Risks” – from Standard & Poor’s London office points out that the “increasing frequency of...
S&P Report Concludes Re/Insurers Have ‘Coped Well So Far’ with Climate Change
May 20 2014 // A report – “Are Insurers Prepared For The Extreme Weather Climate Change May Bring?” – from Standard & Poor’s notes that “whether or not a direct result of climate change, the number...
Are Bermuda’s Re/Insurers ‘Victims of Their Own Success?’ S&P Report
Apr 30 2014 // Bermuda’s re/insurers “reaped strong earnings in 2013 despite increasing competition, persistently low investment yields, and a tepid economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe,” according to a Standard...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Apr 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. To put it more simply, a number of companies, agencies, and other firms benefit if...
S&P Revises Outlook on CGSC to Negative; CEO Comments
Apr 2 2014 // Standard & Poor’s Rating Services announced on April 1, 2014 that it has affirmed its ‘B’ rating for Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Ltd., but has revised its outlook on the rating to negative from...
RSA Upgraded by S&P on Planned Share Sale, Buffett Risk Transfer
Mar 3 2014 // RSA Insurance Group Plc was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s after Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester announced a stock sale and a deal to transfer risk to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Feb 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. A number of companies, agencies and other firms benefit if less attention is paid...
S&P Reinsurer Ratings Downgrades ‘Very Controversial’ – Litmus Analysis
Jan 23 2014 // London-based Litmus Analysis has commented on the announcement from S&P that for the first time since 2006 it expects a negative trend in reinsurer ratings in 2014. Of the 23 groups (including Lloyd’s) it defines...
S&P Reinsurance Report Warns of ‘Negative Rating Actions’
Jan 22 2014 // Standard & Poor’s latest report – “Past The Tipping Point: Competition And Soft Pricing Could Lead To Rating Pressure For Global Reinsurers” – on the state of the global reinsurance sector,...
Standard & Poor’s Report Reviews Global Insurance Ratings
Dec 20 2013 // A report from S&P’s rating services notes that “after revising its insurance criteria earlier this year”, the rating agency “affirmed more than 91 percent of its global ratings, raised 7...
RSA’s S&P Rating Remains Seriously at Risk Even after Second Downgrade
Dec 18 2013 // An analysis from Stuart Shipperlee, Analytical Partner at Litmus Analysis, notes that following S&P’s initial downgrade last month, “RSA faced a further risk to its rating without fresh equity. This...
QBE Bond Risk Surges as U.S. Expansion Sours: Australia Credit Risk
Dec 13 2013 // Bond risk on QBE Insurance Group Ltd. halved in the first 11 months of the year before surging this month as the company said it would lose money. Credit-default swaps on QBE have climbed 41 basis points since Nov. 30 to...
