AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Blue Whale Re Ltd.

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” (Excellent) of Blue Whale Re Ltd. (Blue Whale) (Burlington, VT). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

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

The ratings also reflect Blue Whale’s function as the only captive insurer for Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) [NYSE: PFE], a global pharmaceutical company. As Blue Whale insures or reinsures Pfizer’s international employee benefits and global property exposures, among other coverages, it plays a strategic and critical role in Pfizer’s overall ERM in protecting the Pfizer enterprise’s assets.

Blue Whale provides substantial retentions in coverages for Pfizer, augmented by significant reinsurance capacity. In recent years of hard market conditions, Blue Whale has opted to participate in small slices of its catastrophe tower as an economic efficiency for the Pfizer enterprise. It also offers capacity for cyber liability coverage when required by hard market pricing. The reinsurance program is appropriate and diverse, providing ample coverage for property exposures. AM Best recognizes the quality of the reinsurers and the substantial financial resources and assistance available to the captive as part of Pfizer. The captive covers low frequency, high severity exposures in which the losses have not compromised its strong operating performance.

The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s view that the company will continue to generate strong operating results that engender supportive capitalization for the ratings. Additionally, AM Best expects Pfizer’s ability and willingness to support Blue Whale, an integral part of Pfizer’s corporate ERM program, will not change.

AM 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 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.