Educational truth

I am a 44-year veteran public schoolteacher and I am addressing this letter to all parents. It is with a heavy heart that I write this, but if just one child, one parent or one family is helped by these words from personal insight, my efforts are not in vain.

I, as well as the vast majority of caring teachers throughout our land, make it our primary goal that all of our students achieve maximum success and move forward in life, but a far stronger influence beyond the control of our classrooms is preventing our students from reaching their full potential.

Every psychological study ever done on child development has shown that children need stability as much as food, water and oxygen, but the very element that our students need most to achieve success has been thoughtlessly and, in most cases, selfishly stolen away by the ravages of divorce.

Parents of America, wake up! You are destroying your own children.

Politicians, open your eyes. Our students' low achievement is not due to lack of educational funding, inadequate testing or poor teaching methods.

All the taxpayer money wasted on meaningless tests and raising educational standards will never achieve the desired results if our children's minds are constantly focused on more important issues like "Will Daddy and Mommy get back together again?" or "Who is going to take care of me?" Is it any wonder that teen depression, suicide, drug use and promiscuity are epidemic in America?

Parents, I have discovered through my many years of teaching the most important ingredient necessary for student achievement and success: It is called the family, the only real source of true security, where the love between husband and wife and children remains forever unconditional and, in God's sight, morally pure.

NEILL G. RUSSELL

Queenstown

Affordable Care Act

Michelle LeFurge's letter supporting the Affordable Care Act (The Capital, Jan. 24) is misleading. She describes being unable to buy a health insurance policy outside of the Maryland marketplace due to a pre-existing condition.

ACA-approved policies take all applicants. When I was shopping for insurance, I could have bought a cheaper policy outside of ACA.

However, since it was not an approved policy, I would be responsible for paying the penalty for noncompliance.

My end out-of-pocket would have been the same as the ACA-approved policy that I ended up with.

My policy is chock-full of coverage that I don't need and a deductible that will be difficult to satisfy unless I have a meteor fall on me.

COLLEEN LIGIBEL

Annapolis

HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a+” (Excellent) to Tokio Marine Newa Insurance Co., Ltd. (TMNewa) (Taiwan). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect TMNewa’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 ratings also factor in the rating enhancement from its parent, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd. (TMNF), which is the main insurance operating entity of Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc.

Established in 1999 by Yulon Group, a major automobile conglomerate in Taiwan, and later partnered with Tokio Marine Group, TMNewa is the fourth largest non-life insurer in Taiwan, with a 7.6% market share in 2025. TMNF is currently the controlling shareholder with a 50.18% stake, while Yulon Group has a collective shareholding of 49.48% via its subsidiaries, namely China Motor Co., Ltd., Yulon Motor Co., Ltd. and Yulon Finance Co., Ltd. Leveraging Yulon Group’s extensive network of car dealers, motor insurance is the largest product line in TMNewa’s underwriting book, constituting approximately 70% of gross premiums written in 2025, followed by other key products including commercial fire, casualty, and accident and health.

TMNewa’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), was assessed at the strongest level at year-end 2025, and is expected to further improve over the short to intermediate term. The company’s capital and surplus (C&S) has grown robustly through full profit retention, in addition to significant recovery from four rounds of material capital injections from shareholders in 2022 and 2023, after experiencing material underwriting loss from pandemic-related products. Other supporting factors include a conservative investment portfolio heavily weighted toward cash and high-quality fixed-income investments, financial flexibility from shareholders and supportive liquidity.

AM Best views TMNewa’s operating performance as adequate, as demonstrated by a track record of favourable operating performance, apart from a one-time underwriting loss in 2022. The company reported modest top-line growth in 2025, partially attributed to slower expansion in the major motor and commercial fire lines, following a period of double-digit expansion between 2022 and 2024. The return on equity (based on adjusted C&S) was 25.7% in 2025, supported by an improved net loss ratio, due to continued control over claims experience in two major product lines. The expense ratio benefits from the company’s sustained control over management expenses and commissions, along with the increased scale, and remains below the market average. The company’s investment portfolio continues to generate favourable results, supported by steady income streams from interest and dividend. Going forward, TMNewa is targeting profitable growth in non-motor business lines, including fire and liability insurance for small to medium-sized enterprises, while being disciplined on large commercial risks.

As a subsidiary of TMNF, the company receives various implicit support from TMNF, including management oversight, risk framework and governance, underwriting know-how, product development, investment and innovation.

Negative rating actions could occur if there is a material deterioration in TMNewa’s balance sheet strength assessment. Negative rating actions also could arise if there is a reduced level of support from the parent company, which may have a negative impact on TMNewa’s ratings. Although it is unlikely in the near term, positive rating actions could occur if TMNewa is able to achieve sustained improvement in its operating performance, while its balance sheet strength fundamentals remain robust.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

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 specialising 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.

Copyright © 2026 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/20260508631820/en/

Stephanie Mi
Senior Financial Analyst

+852 2827 3402

[email protected]

James Chan
Director, Analytics

+852 2827 3418

[email protected]

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations

+1 908 882 2310

[email protected]

Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist

+1 908 882 2318

[email protected]

Source: AM Best