AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Vantage Risk Ltd. and Its Affiliate

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 Vantage Risk Ltd. (Bermuda) and its affiliate, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company (Chicago, IL), which do business as Vantage Group. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

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

The ratings affirmation follows an active first year of operations for the group. Underwriting income was significantly impacted by elevated catastrophe losses in the group’s reinsurance operations. Furthermore, employee turnover and market conditions in the group’s primary insurance operations resulted in lower primary insurance premium than originally anticipated, overweighting the impact of the reinsurance portfolio losses. As the group continues to execute on its business plans, the reinsurance portfolio will become relatively smaller than the primary portfolio and thus have less of an impact to the group’s bottom line. Despite these challenges, the group has continued to execute on many of its goals in its first year, hiring staff members at various levels and acquiring new primary insurance companies to support the business plans. AM Best will continue to monitor the group’s progression as it enters its second year of operation. AM Best anticipates that the group’s operating performance will begin to stabilize as its business plan is executed.

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.