AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of NiSource Insurance Corporation, Inc.

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 NiSource Insurance Corporation, Inc. (NICI) (Salt Lake City, UT). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect NICI’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The company’s ratings benefit from the implicit and explicit support it receives as a strategic component of its ultimate parent, NiSource, Inc.'s (NiSource) ERM.

NICI maintains the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The balance sheet assessment also considers the company’s ample liquidity measures, conservative reserving practices and investment strategy, along with the financial flexibility afforded by NiSource. NICI experienced consistently favorable reserve development on a calendar-year basis during the previous 10-year period. These attributes are offset by the high retention to surplus ratio, which is reflected in the limit the captive offers the parent.

The company’s strong operating performance assessment is supported by favorable combined and operating ratios that outperform AM Best’s commercial casualty composite. NICI’s strong operational results reflect loss ratios trending favorably, as well as a low underwriting expense structure, an inherent benefit of being a single-parent captive of NiSource. Through its niche captive orientation, risk management expertise and conservative underwriting criteria, NICI has generated favorable results at levels generally equal to or better than its industry peers, organically growing its surplus by three-fold in the last 10 years.

NICI is a single-parent captive insurer wholly owned by NiSource, providing all-risk property, workers’ compensation, excess general and automobile liability, medical stop-loss, long-term disability, group life insurance and punitive damage coverage for the parent and its affiliates. AM Best has taken a balanced view of NICI’s overall business profile, which albeit limited in scope, maintains inherent advantages as a single-parent captive with immediate access to business and resources along with the broader financial wherewithal of its ultimate parent. NICI plays a critical role in NiSource’s overall ERM framework, supporting the parent’s objectives through insuring key risks and ultimately supporting NiSource’s financing needs.

The stable outlooks for NICI reflect its appropriate risk-adjusted capitalization and derived balance sheet strength assessment in insuring NiSource’s insurance needs/exposures through sustainable organic underwriting profits and surplus growth. The outlooks also reflect AM Best's expectation that the ability and willingness of NiSource to support NICI will not change.

Negative rating actions could occur if NICI’s operating performance declines and appears it could be trending consistently weaker, warranting a lower assessment. Negative rating actions also could occur if changes in the parent’s financial condition or operations reflect a potential change in its ability or willingness to support NICI. Conversely, positive rating actions may occur if the company's risk-adjusted capitalization supports a higher assessment level due to ongoing organic surplus growth and an appropriate level of retentions to surplus offered to NiSource.

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.