Fitch Affirms Fidelity & Guaranty Life’s IFS Rating; Removes Rating Watch Evolving
Fitch has also revised the Rating Watch to Positive from Evolving on the 'BB' Issuer Default Rating (IDR) assigned to
KEY RATING DRIVERS
F&G Life's ratings were placed on Rating Watch Evolving in
Today's rating actions follow Fitch's review of Anbang's financial profile and strategic fit of F&G Life within the Anbang organization. Fitch expects F&G Life will be considered a strategically 'Important' subsidiary of Anbang post-close, and Anbang's ownership will be considered neutral to F&G Life's ratings. As such, F&G Life's IFS ratings largely reflect the company's standalone credit profile.
Anbang has been active in the acquisition of international assets in insurance, banking, and real estate in the
Fitch believes Anbang's ownership will not alter F&G Life's standalone rating profile in part due to the standard restrictions on the minimum capital position and dividend payments typically imposed by
The revision of the Ratings Watch status for the IDR and senior unsecured note ratings of FGLH to Positive reflects Fitch's expectation that the ratings will likely be upgraded one notch following the completion of the acquisition. Currently, the FGLH ratings reflect non-standard (i.e., wider) notching from the IFS rating as a result of the rating and financial profile of its highly leveraged parent, HRG Group Inc. (HRG; 'B' IDR). Given the absence of high leverage and more normalized financial flexibility of the prospective new parent, the ratings of FGLH will reflect standard notching from the IFS ratings once the transaction is completed.
Fitch's ratings for F&G Life continue to reflect the company's relatively narrow product focus and liability profile, strong balance sheet profile, and improved operating performance. The ratings also consider the competitive and regulatory challenges tied to the company's strategic focus selling fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) through independent marketing organizations (IMOs), and macroeconomic challenges associated with low interest rates.
Fitch expects the implementation of the
F&G Life's recent financial performance and balance sheet fundamentals remain in line with rating expectations. Operating performance for first fiscal three quarters 2016 improved over prior year due to the absence of elevated impairments and wider net investment spread from a combination of lowering crediting rates and repositioning to higher yielding assets.
F&G Life's strong balance sheet profile reflects the company's adequate statutory capitalization, moderate leverage, and good asset quality. The company's year-end 2015 RBC of 401% was strong for the rating category. FGL's PRISM capital model score is on the high end of 'Adequate', which is within expectations for its current rating category.
Fitch views F&G Life's overall investment quality to be comparable to peers and notes that the company's investment portfolio tends to overweight public bonds but underweight mortgages loans and alternatives. Investment impairments returned to historical averages in the first three quarters of 2016 following elevated levels in 2015.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Fitch could upgrade the IDR and senior unsecured note ratings of FGLH following the close of the transaction based on the relative improvement of the parent company financial profile.
Fitch could affirm the IDR and senior unsecured note ratings of FGLH at current levels if the transaction doesn't close or if there has been a material unexpected deterioration in Anbang's credit profile.
All of F&G Life's ratings could be downgraded by the following: an unexpected change in the Anbang transaction which negatively impacts F&G Life's credit profile; F&G Life's consolidated RBC ratio falling below 300% with operating leverage above 20x; consolidated financial leverage for FGL exceeding 35%; maximum statutory dividend interest coverage falling below 3.0x; operating ROE below 5% over four consecutive quarters.
Conversely, F&G Life's ratings could be upgraded by the following: consolidated RBC above 400%; financial leverage below 25%; maintain operating ROEs above 10% on a consistent basis.
Fitch affirms the following ratings with a Stable Outlook:
Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company
--IFS rating 'BBB'.
Fitch has revised the Rating Watch status to Positive from Evolving for the following ratings:
--Long-term IDR 'BB';
--Senior unsecured note due
Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com.
Applicable Criteria
Insurance Rating Methodology (pub.
https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/887191
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https://www.fitchratings.com/gws/en/disclosure/solicitation?pr_id=1013376
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https://www.fitchratings.com/regulatory
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