AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for RetailFirst Insurance Group’s Affiliates

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a-” (Excellent) of RetailFirst Insurance Company (RFIC) and BusinessFirst Insurance Company (BFIC), which are affiliates of RetailFirst Insurance Group (RFIG) and are domiciled in Lakeland, FL.

The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect RFIG’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 positive outlooks reflect the sustained improvement in RFIG’s operating performance, which AM Best assesses as adequate, driven by strong underwriting gains in each of the past five years, which has trended toward peers that AM Best assesses with a strong operating performance. In 2024, RFIG generated a net underwriting gain of approximately $11.7 million, which resulted in an overall combined ratio of 92.8%. RFIG’s improved underwriting results over the most recent five-year period reflect favorable loss experience, as well as quicker claim closure rates and favorable reserve releases. Additionally, despite continued rate decreases throughout the group’s operating territory, RFIG’s five-year compound annual growth rate in direct written premium is 5.7%. The positive outlooks further reflect AM Best’s expectation that RFIG’s operating performance will continue to benefit from favorable underwriting results and outperform similarly rated peers.

RFIG is a mono-line workers’ compensation insurance carrier concentrated in the Southeast United States, specifically Florida. RFIC operates only in Florida, while BFIC provides geographic diversification into several other states. Since its inception, RFIG’s administrator has been Summit Consulting, LCC (Summit). RFIG maintains a managing general agent agreement with Summit in which Summit provides complete administrative services to the company, including agency relations, marketing, underwriting, policy issuance and administration, claims and managed care administration, loss prevention, premium auditing, information technology, and financial management.

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.