AM Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of SWBC Life Insurance Company

2019 JUL 03 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb+” from “bbb” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) of SWBC Life Insurance Company (SWBC Life) (San Antonio, TX). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR has been revised to stable from positive while the FSR outlook remains stable.

The ratings reflect SWBC Life’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

The Long-Term ICR upgrade reflects an overall improvement in AM Best’s assessment of the company’s ERM program. In 2018, the company formally established a risk policy, which has enhanced its risk framework with a clear identification of risks, risk tolerances and risk appetite statements. This enhanced risk policy should allow SWBC Life to manage risk identification more effectively through additional evaluation of risk assessments, along with mitigation efforts with further monitoring by all senior managers. The ratings also recognize that SWBC Life’s ultimate parent, Southwest Business Corporation (SWBC), maintains a robust cybersecurity program as part of the company’s overall risk management process. As part of its cybersecurity program, SWBC focuses on risk identification and threat detection, as well as incident response and recovery planning, to maximize its resiliency.

Partially offsetting these positive rating factors is the company’s modest absolute capital and surplus level, although the company has recorded a strong compounded annual growth rate of 8.0% over the last five years as a result of organic growth. The company operates exclusively in the highly competitive credit insurance marketplace and historically and currently writes a significant majority of the direct business in just one state, which contributes to a concentrated regulatory and economic profile. However, AM Best acknowledges the progress management has made in geographic expansion to date. 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 Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright © 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190613005417/en/

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