AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Standard Insurance Company and its Affiliate Companies, and Pacific Guardian Life Insurance Company, Limited

NOVEMBER 07, 2024 01:34 PM (EST)

AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Standard Insurance Company and its Affiliate Companies, and Pacific Guardian Life Insurance Company, Limited

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - NOVEMBER 07, 2024 01:34 PM (EST)
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) of "a+" (Excellent) of Anthem Life Insurance Company (Indianapolis, IN), Greater Georgia Life Insurance Company (Atlanta, GA) and Anthem Life & Disability Insurance Company (New York, NY). These companies are collectively known as Standard Life & Disability Group. In addition, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of "a+" (Excellent) of Standard Insurance Company (Portland, OR) and its affiliate, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York (White Plains, NY), together referred to as Standard Insurance Group (The Standard). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of "bbb+" (Good) of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc. (StanCorp Financial) (Portland, OR), the intermediate holding company of The Standard. In addition, AM Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of "a" (Excellent) of Pacific Guardian Life Insurance Company, Limited (Pacific Guardian) (Honolulu, HI). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings of Standard Life & Disability Group reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM). The group's members are collectively the legal entities acquired by StanCorp Financial from Elevance Health, Inc. (Elevance Health) in a deal that was announced in 2023, and closed in early 2024.

This acquisition combines the life & disability business that is being integrated into The Standard's brand and includes a 10-year distribution agreement, making The Standard's insurance products and services available to Elevance Health customers. The group is expected to merge operations with The Standard's existing structure and benefit from the synergies of combining them.

The ratings of The Standards' members reflect their balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate ERM. The Standard maintains risk-adjusted capitalization at the adequate level, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and has historically been impacted by dividends paid up to StanCorp Financial. Premium trends are strong with favorable results driven by diversified premium and fee revenue growth in the individual and group life and disability business, the employee benefits business and growth in individual annuities and retirement plans. The diversification of product operating earnings reflects on The Standard's core earnings metrics, a trend that AM Best expects to continue in the near to medium term.

The ratings of Pacific Guardian reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate ERM. Pacific Guardian's risk-adjusted capitalization is assessed at the strongest level, as measured by BCAR; however, over the medium term, the BCAR has declined from higher measures primarily from the increased asset and interest risk associated with new multi-year guaranteed annuity (MYGA) production. The investment portfolio consists of a high allocation to commercial mortgage loans, which are concentrated in Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest. While these loans are considered less liquid investments, the portfolio has an extremely low delinquency rate and continues to perform favorably. Pacific Guardian reported net gains in 2023, which follows a period of higher pandemic claims and high acquisition costs from its increased level of individual life sales and related acquisition costs. The company has expanded its product portfolio to include MYGAs and interest-sensitive whole life in addition to its temporary disability insurance business. The company's MYGA offerings expand the geographic diversification of its revenues.

The ratings of The Standard and Pacific Guardian also take into consideration their strategic role to and the financial strength of their parent company, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company.

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.