S&P Affirms Assured Guaranty’s AA Financial Strength Ratings with Stable Outlook

Business Wire

New Report Highlights Assured Guaranty’s Strong Competitive Profile, Very Strong Capital Adequacy and Leadership Position in the U.S. Public Finance Market

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) announced today that S&P Global Ratings (S&P) has affirmed the AA financial strength ratings on U.S. bond insurers Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM), Municipal Assurance Corp. (MAC) and Assured Guaranty Corp. (AGC); U.K. financial guarantor Assured Guaranty (Europe) plc (AGE); and Bermuda insurers Assured Guaranty Re Ltd. (AGRe) and Assured Guaranty Re Overseas Ltd. (AGRO). The outlooks of all the Assured Guaranty entities are stable.

In its June 26^th report, S&P noted Assured Guaranty’s:

“very strong capital adequacy”
“strong competitive position built on a record of credit discipline”
“diverse underwriting strategy” with “a well thought out and measured” approach to global structured finance and international markets
“flexibility to capitalize on growth trends and pricing opportunities in a market when other markets see less-favorable trends”
ability to “absorb losses based on its entire exposure to issuers in Puerto Rico of roughly $3.4 billion” with no change to Assured’s Guaranty’s capital adequacy score or financial risk profile.

In response to the report, Dominic Frederico, President and CEO of Assured Guaranty said:

“This affirmation by S&P of the AA financial strength backing our financial guarantees reflects the success of our disciplined risk management, proven business model and diversified market strategies. The stable outlook indicates that S&P expects, as we do, that Assured Guaranty will continue to have both very strong capital adequacy and a strong competitive profile, based on its leading position in the U.S. municipal bond insurance market and a prudently diversified strategy incorporating international infrastructure and global structured finance markets.”

Any forward-looking statements made in this press release reflect Assured Guaranty’s current views with respect to future events and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, difficulties executing Assured Guaranty’s business strategy; those risks and uncertainties resulting from changes in rating agency models or opinions; adverse credit developments in Puerto Rico or other portions of Assured Guaranty’s insured portfolio and the impact of those developments on rating agency models and opinions; other risks and uncertainties that have not been identified at this time, management’s response to these factors, and other risk factors identified in Assured Guaranty’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are made as of June 27, 2019. Assured Guaranty undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Assured Guaranty Ltd. is a publicly traded (NYSE: AGO) Bermuda-based holding company. Its operating subsidiaries provide credit enhancement products to the U.S. and international public finance, infrastructure and structured finance markets. More information on Assured Guaranty Ltd. and its subsidiaries can be found at AssuredGuaranty.com.