A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of Blue Whale Re Ltd.
April 07 2016 - 10:47AM
Business Wire
A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of A
(Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a+” of Blue Whale
Re Ltd. (Blue Whale) (Burlington, VT). The outlook for each
rating is stable.
The ratings reflect Blue Whale's strong capitalization and
conservative operating strategy. The ratings also consider the
company's critical and central role and favorable profile as part
of the Pfizer Group, as well as the excellent performance of its
operations. Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are
Blue Whale's very large gross and net underwriting exposures to
property losses and its dependence on reinsurance.
Blue Whale is a single parent captive of Pfizer Inc.
(Pfizer) (NYSE:PFE), a leading global pharmaceutical company. As
Blue Whale (re)insures Pfizer's global property exposures, it plays
an important role in Pfizer's overall enterprise risk management
and assumes a critical role in protecting the Pfizer Group`s
assets. Thus, Blue Whale benefits from Pfizer Group`s extensive
risk management and loss control programs.
Blue Whale operates at conservative underwriting leverage
levels; however, it provides coverages with extremely large limits,
and its gross exposures per loss occurrence are elevated. Although
Blue Whale benefits from reinsurance protection, its net retentions
remain very substantial. Reinsurance is provided by a large panel
of reinsurers, and Blue Whale relies on significant capacity to be
able to support its obligations. As such, it is heavily dependent
on reinsurance. Nevertheless, A.M. Best recognizes the quality of
the reinsurers and the substantial financial resources and support
available to the captive as part of the Pfizer Group.
Positive rating actions could occur if there is a sustainable
and long-term improvement in the operating performance and capital
strength of Blue Whale and Pfizer. Conversely, negative rating
actions could occur as a result of material operational and
performance issues at both Blue Whale and Pfizer. Rating pressure
will be likely if there are any adverse changes to many of the
regulatory standards to which Pfizer adheres. The potential for
future acquisitions, any associated integration risks and company
profile changes could lead to both positive or negative ratings
pressure, depending on the acquisition details.
A.M. Best remains the leading rating agency of alternative risk
transfer entities, with more than 200 such vehicles rated in the
United States and throughout the world. For current Best’s Credit
Ratings and independent data on the captive and alternative risk
transfer insurance market, please visit www.ambest.com/captive.
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 Rating
Services, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160407006005/en/
A.M. BestFred Eslami, +1-908-439-2200, ext.
5406Senior Financial
Analystfred.eslami@ambest.comorDaniel Ryan, +1-908-439-2200,
ext. 5087Vice
Presidentdaniel.ryan@ambest.comorChristopher Sharkey,
+1-908-439-2200, ext. 5159Manager, Public
Relationschristopher.sharkey@ambest.comorJim Peavy,
+1-908-439-2200, ext. 5644Assistant Vice President, Public
Relationsjames.peavy@ambest.com
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