A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies’ (Formerly GUARD Insurance Group) Members
February 04 2016 - 10:34AM
Business Wire
A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of
A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings of “aa-” of
WestGUARD Insurance Company, AmGUARD Insurance
Company, EastGUARD Insurance Company and NorGUARD
Insurance Company, which operate under an intercompany pooling
agreement. These companies are members of Berkshire Hathaway
GUARD Insurance Companies (GUARD) and domiciled in
Wilkes-Barre, PA. The outlook for all ratings is stable.
The ratings reflect GUARD’s solid capitalization, favorable
operating profitability achieved through disciplined underwriting
initiatives and conservative reserving philosophy, which has
resulted in favorable reserve development in recent years. The
ratings also acknowledge the implicit and explicit financial
support provided by GUARD’s ultimate parent, Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. (Berkshire) [NYSE: BRK A and BRK B], and Berkshire
subsidiary, National Indemnity Company, including
significant reinsurance transactions.
Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are the
group’s above-average growth in its core workers’ compensation line
and other commercial classes over the past several years. There is
greater inherent risk associated with integrating new product lines
and expansion into new states, along with a degree of concentration
in several states and production sources. Also, the group’s net
investment ratio is below the workers’ compensation composite and
comparably rated peers. Despite these concerns, the outlooks
reflect GUARD’s enhanced financial flexibility provided by
Berkshire, solid balance sheet and historical underwriting
profitability.
A.M. Best believes GUARD’s members are well-positioned at the
current rating level. However, these ratings or outlooks could come
under pressure should softer market conditions and a lack of
underwriting discipline in their new product lines and expansion
initiatives result in a decline in underwriting and overall
profitability to levels underperforming their peers, or should
Berkshire fail to provide adequate financial and operational
support.
This press release relates to rating(s) that have been
published on A.M. Best’s website. For all rating information
relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including
details of the office responsible for issuing each of the
individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M.
Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page.
A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative
insurance rating and information source. For more information,
visit www.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2016 by A.M. Best Company,
Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160204005998/en/
A.M. BestGreg Reisner, 908-439-2200, ext.
5224Assistant Vice
Presidentgreg.reisner@ambest.comorRobert DeRose,
908-439-2200, ext. 5453Vice
Presidentrobert.derose@ambest.comorChristopher
Sharkey, 908-439-2200, ext. 5159Manager, Public
Relationschristopher.sharkey@ambest.comorJim Peavy,
908-439-2200, ext. 5644Assistant Vice President, Public
Relationsjames.peavy@ambest.com
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