AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Summit Insurance Company Limited

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 Summit Insurance Company Limited (Summit) (Nassau, Bahamas). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect Summit’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Summit’s balance sheet strength is at the strongest level, based on supportive risk-adjusted capitalization, favorable earnings, which have generally been accretive to surplus growth, and the company’s utilization of reinsurance to reduce its net exposure to natural catastrophes especially wind events. The company’s overall operating performance has been strong and operating metrics remain solid, especially in non-catastrophe years.

However, AM Best considers Summit’s business profile to be limited due to geographic and product line concentration in the Bahamas. This continues to expose Summit to highly competitive soft pricing conditions, high economic and financial system risk and moderate political risk of the Bahamas, as well as changes in the underwriting cycle and the potential for significant gross losses from severe weather-related events. The ratings also take into consideration the highly competitive domestic property/casualty insurance market conditions.

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 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.