Latest S&P Headlines

All the headlines from our S&P Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Rating Agencies Positive on ACE, Aon, Munich Re Deal for Combined, Sterling

Dec 18 2007 // The rating agencies have generally been positive about ACE’s acquisition of Aon’s Combined Life Insurance Company and Munich Re’s purchase of Sterling Life. The specific reactions were as follows: A.M....

S&P Raises RenRe’s Ratings to ‘A’ and ‘AA-‘; Outlook Stable

Dec 17 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its counterparty credit rating on Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. to ‘A’ from ‘A-,’ as well as its counterparty credit and...

Ratings Recap: Temple, Munich Re, ERGO, Ecclesiastical, Ansvar, Unipol, Paris Re

Dec 14 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned an issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a+” and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) of Canada’s Temple Insurance Company; has revised its...

S&P Affirms AIG’s ‘AA’ Ratings; Asia Unit Upgraded to ‘AA+’; Outlook Stable

Dec 13 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services gave the American International Group a vote of confidence as it affirmed AIG’s ‘AA’ long-term counterparty rating and its ‘AA+’ counterparty...

S&P Raises Royal&Sun Ratings to ‘A’

Dec 12 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on the main operating entities of The Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group PLC (RSA) to...

Ratings Roundup: Bond Safeguard, Lexon, Gerling US

Dec 12 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Bond Safeguard Insurance Co. and Lexon Insurance Co. to negative from stable. S&P also affirmed its ‘BBB-‘ counterparty credit and...

Ratings Recap: Thai Re, Aspen, Valiant, Qatar Insurance

Dec 10 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term local currency counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Thai Reinsurance Public Co. Ltd. (Thai Re) to ‘A-‘ from...

S&P Details Actions Taken on ‘Public Information’ Ratings

Dec 10 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has announced various rating actions on insurance companies with public information (pi) ratings. S&P explained that “ratings with a ‘pi’ subscript are...

S&P Downgrades MMC’s Ratings to ‘BBB-‘ on Marsh Problems

Dec 6 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its counterparty credit rating on Marsh & McLennan Cos. (MMC) to ‘BBB-‘ from ‘BBB’ as well as its short-term debt rating on MMC to...

Ratings Roundup: Everest Re, Bison, PMG, Liffey Re,

Dec 6 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Everest Re Group Ltd., its operating subsidiaries, Everest Reinsurance Co., Everest National Insurance Co., and Everest Reinsurance (Bermuda) Ltd.;...

Ratings Recap: China (NZ), Hannover ReTakaful, Fairfax, Radian (Europe)

Dec 5 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb-” of China Insurance (NZ) Company Limited of New Zealand with a stable outlook. The ratings...

U.S. Personal Lines Insurers Trying To Maintain Profits In Softening Market

Dec 4 2007 // U.S. personal lines insurance sector is at a critical juncture, according to an article published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The article, which is titled “2008 U.S. Personal Lines Outlook: A...

S&P Report Examines Calif. Earthquake Insurance

Dec 2 2007 // The Golden State got a jolt on Oct. 30 with a 5.6 magnitude earthquake just outside of San Jose. An article published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, “Is California’s Earthquake Insurance...

S&P: Softening Prices Should Start To Affect U.S. Commercial Lines Insurers

Nov 30 2007 // Another very profitable year for commercial lines insurers, sparked by yet another exceptionally mild hurricane season, is emerging for the entire U.S. property/casualty industry, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings...

S&P: Japan Non-Life Insurers ‘Show Improvement in Profits’

Nov 29 2007 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services concludes that Japan’s top nine non-life insurers recorded ¥173 billion ($1.575 billion) in interim net profits for the first half of fiscal 2007 (ended...

Ratings Recap: PhilNaRe, Atlas IV Cat Bond, HSBC (Bermuda), Cunningham Lindsey

Nov 29 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘B++’ (Good) and an issuer credit rating of “bbb” to National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (PhilNaRe) with a stable outlook....

S&P: Discipline Will Be The Key To Insurers’ Success in 2008

Nov 28 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has issued a report, noting the 2008 outlook for the North American property/casualty insurance, life, health, and reinsurance sectors are stable due to several years of strong...

S&P Says Saudi Insurance Market Able to Meet Regulatory Challenges

Nov 27 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has said that it considers the Saudi insurance market to possess the “inherent strengths,” which will allow it to “ride out” forthcoming regulatory...

S&P Announces Rating Actions on Five Major Mortgage Insurers

Nov 26 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced a number of rating actions, covering five mortgage guarantee insurers: Radian Group, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance PMI Group, Triad Guaranty and Old Republic. The...

Ratings Recap: MMA, Shinkong, First Ins., Singapore Re, Swiss Re, W.R. Berkley (Europe)

Nov 21 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on France-based insurer MMA IARD Assurances Mutuelle (MMA IARD) to ‘A’ from...