New hire will focus on scaling the Vantis Life brand digitally to expand consumer reach

WINDSOR, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vantis Life Insurance Company (Vantis Life), a life insurance provider offering solutions to individuals and financial institutions servicing middle-income Americans, announces the hiring of Manuel Lirio as AVP of Consumer Direct Marketing.

In his new role, Lirio will bolster the Vantis Life brand online by leveraging message development, social media marketing, and search engine optimization techniques to expand the company’s consumer reach. Lirio’s hiring coincides with Vantis Life’s broader push into the direct-to-consumer market to complement its decades of success offering life insurance solutions through community banks, credit unions, and financial institutions.

“Today’s consumers are interacting with businesses and making transactions online more comfortably and frequently than ever before. Gone are the days when corporate mailers and phone calls served as the primary avenues to market life insurance. In our digitized world, reaching consumers happens online more than anywhere else,” said Craig Simms, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Vantis Life. “As we push into the direct-to-consumer market, Manny’s expertise leveraging digital marketing to explain the simplicity and affordability of life insurance products is a perfect fit for Vantis Life.”

Lirio joins Vantis Life with decades of experience expanding corporate brands online with SEO, messaging, and social media development strategies. He was previously part of a team that used these techniques to bring a professional liability startup to profitability in its first year of business. He has also served as the Director of Digital Marketing at The Hartford.

“By building on their success in distributing policies through financial institutions, Vantis Life is primed for rapid growth in the direct-to-consumer market,” said Lirio. “By relaying to consumers the simplicity and affordability of life insurance with a digital marketing campaign that directly speaks to their unique needs and desires, we hope to place these important financial products into the hands of more Americans.”

About Vantis Life

Established in 1942, Vantis Life Insurance Company’s primary goal is to provide families affordable life insurance products. Vantis Life markets its products through financial institutions and direct to the consumer. The Company prides itself on providing simple, easy-to-afford products to middle-income American families and supporting these products with attentive and personal customer service. Vantis Life is a separately operated subsidiary of The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company.

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Gregory FCA for Vantis Life

Jen Diehl, 610-228-2124

[email protected]

Source: Vantis Life Insurance Company

MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
AM Best has removed from under review with positive implications and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “aa-” (Superior) and the Mexico National Scale Rating (NSR) of “aaa.MX” (Exceptional) of Sompo Seguros Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (Sompo Mexico) (Mexico City, Mexico). The outlook assigned to the FSR and NSR is stable, while the outlook assigned to the Long-Term ICR is positive.

Sompo Mexico is a subsidiary of Sompo America Insurance Company (SAIC) and a member of Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (SIH). Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. (SJ) is the core operating unit of Sompo Holdings, Inc. (Sompo Holdings), the ultimate parent and one of the largest non-life insurance groups in Japan. Sompo Mexico is well-integrated into the group.

These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect SJ’s balance sheet strength on a consolidated basis, which AM Best assesses as strongest, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

The ratings recognize Sompo Mexico’s integration and support from SIH and SJ, through SAIC, which provides synergies and operating efficiencies to the Mexico subsidiary. Sompo Mexico maintains the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR).

The ratings were removed from under review with positive implications following the completion of the acquisition of Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (Aspen) by Sompo Holdings on 24 February 2026, via SIH, a wholly owned subsidiary of SJ.

The acquisition of Aspen is expected to increase SJ’s business scale and specialty line capabilities, materially enhancing its presence in the global property/casualty (re)insurance markets. The positive outlook on the Long-Term ICR reflects AM Best’s expectation that SJ’s business profile will strengthen over the near to medium term, driven by its continued global expansion and diversification, further accelerated by the addition of Aspen. AM Best views the successful execution of postmerger integration and prudent risk management of the expanding overseas portfolio as key considerations in its ongoing business profile assessment.

AM Best will monitor any potential impact on balance sheet strength fundamentals associated with the acquisition over the coming periods. While the company is exposed to sizeable equity risk from its domestic stock portfolio, AM Best expects this exposure to gradually diminish as the company continues to reduce its strategic equity holdings in the forthcoming years. The company’s conservative financial leverage and strong financial flexibility remain supportive of the balance sheet strength assessment.

Positive rating actions could occur if Sompo Japan demonstrates sustainable enhanced business scale through successful post-merger integration of Aspen. Negative rating actions could occur if there is material deterioration in balance sheet strength fundamentals driven by a material increase in risk that outpaces capital growth. Negative rating actions could occur if there is persistent and significant deterioration in operating performance stemming from weak underwriting or investment results.

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.

Copyright © 2026 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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David Barroso
Associate Financial Analyst

+52 55 1102 2720, ext. 135

[email protected]

Alfonso Novelo
Senior Director, Analytics

+52 55 1102 2720, ext. 107

[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