AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings for Members of GuideOne Insurance Companies

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) of “a-” (Excellent) of GuideOne Insurance Company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, collectively referred to as GuideOne Insurance Companies (GuideOne). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is negative. All companies are domiciled in West Des Moines, IA. (Please see below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.)

The ratings reflect GuideOne’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

GuideOne’s balance sheet strength assessment of very strong is supported by its strongest level of risk-adjusted capital, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). GuideOne closed on a transaction with Bain Capital Insurance in December 2023, to create The Mutual Group (TMG), which acts as a full-service insurance operations service provider for small to midsize mutual insurance operations. In addition, GuideOne’s BCAR score increased following the closing of the transaction with Bain Capital Insurance, which resulted in a significant inflow of capital to the GuideOne group, with the majority of proceeds contributed to the insurance companies with a modest portion retained at the holding company to service future dividends. The capital injection helped to rebuild surplus that had decreased significantly in recent years. GuideOne’s balance sheet strength is further complemented by its comprehensive reinsurance program, some recoveries of reinsurance receivables in the current year and adequate liquidity metrics. Limiting factors include historical BCAR volatility and continued, albeit moderating, unfavorable reserve development in most-recent calendar years.

The group’s operating performance assessment of marginal recognizes a history of volatile underwriting results with trends that in the long term are unfavorable when compared with peers. The group experienced significant catastrophe losses in 2020-2023, impacting the group's underwriting results. In 2024, the results began to improve when compared with recent years.

The group’s business profile assessment of limited remains appropriate as GuideOne continues to operate in niche markets of religious organizations and not for profit and human services, while remaining opportunistic with respect to select program business.

The FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a-” (Excellent) have been affirmed with negative outlooks for the subsidiaries of GuideOne Insurance Company:

GuideOne Specialty Insurance Company
GuideOne America Insurance Company
GuideOne Elite Insurance Company
GuideOne National Insurance Company
GuideOne Property & Casualty Insurance Company

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM 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 AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.