AM Best Upgrades Credit Ratings of Peace Hills General Insurance Company

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A- (Excellent) from B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a-” (Excellent) from “bbb+” (Good) of Peace Hills General Insurance Company (Peace Hills) (Alberta, Canada). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) has been revised to stable from positive.

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

The upgrades reflect Peace Hills’ strong capital growth over the last five years through a sustained trend in profitable earnings. The improved capital base has strengthened the company’s risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), to the strongest level in recent years. The company’s balance sheet strength also reflects sound liquidity, improved underwriting leverage and reduced reinsurance dependence.

Peace Hills’ operating performance is assessed as adequate as the company has benefited from a favorable trend of underwriting profits and investment income over the last five years. The company’s loss experience has remained favorable compared with industry averages in its core product lines of automobile, personal property and commercial property insurance in Alberta and British Columbia where the company predominately writes. Peace Hills is a subsidiary of the Samson Cree Nation, a sovereign nation located in Alberta that owns multiple non-insurance operations.

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.