A.M Best rates Guardian General as Excellent

Guardian General Insurance Limited (GGIL) receives an annual rating by the A.M. Best Company which is based on a thorough analysis of our financial condition.

Following this year’s analysis, Guardian General received a rating which places us into the “excellent” category.  This puts Guardian General in an elite position within the Caribbean and World insurance market.

A.M. Best also provides ratings on the financial strength and credit worthiness of insurance companies as a guide to the potential future direction of the company’s rating over an intermediate period of time, generally 12-36 months.  In this instance A.M. Best assigned a negative outlook to our A- (excellent rating).

However, Guardian General maintains assets well above the statutory minimum, and in fact at levels that are the strongest in the region.   

Additionally A.M. Best gives details on what is meant by a ‘negative outlook’.

Negative outlook indicates that a company is experiencing unfavourable financial and market trends, relative to its current rating level. If these trends continue, the company has a good possibility of having its rating downgraded…Positive or negative outlooks do not necessarily lead to a change in a company’s rating.

More specifically, there are two areas which gave rise to the negative outlook

• One is the level of debt held at the holding company level (Guardian General is a member of the Guardian Holdings group). Guardian Holding’s level of debt arose from the various acquisitions made during the first part of this decade.  This debt has always been kept current due to the strong cash flows and has been steadily paid down.  While the actual debt levels are not high within the context of the industry, nevertheless it is higher than allowed for “A” rated companies. 

• The other area that gave rise to the negative outlook is the Group’s exposure to Jamaica.  Jamaica’s economic issues are well chronicled.  However, we believe that the recent IMF programme entered into by Jamaica has, and will, go a long towards reversing this negative factor.

Further information can be obtained by visiting www.ambest.com.