Insurance: Insurer & Insurance Holding Company Global Rating Methodology

Executive Summary

This document describes KBRA’s general rating methodology as it pertains to the financial strength and debt of insurance and reinsurance operating companies, as well as the debt or issuer credit rating of insurance holding companies. For the purposes of this methodology, an insurer is defined as any enterprise whose primary business is to accept underwriting risk and is typically licensed and regulated under its domiciliary jurisdiction’s insurance legislation. KBRA will assign ratings to long-term (life/annuity), non-life (property/casualty), title and composite companies using its insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) scale. An IFSR reflects the likelihood that an insurer will meet its policyholder obligations. Additionally, KBRA will utilize its Long-Term Credit Rating (LTCR) scale to assign ratings to an insurance holding company (IHC), any operating company or IHC debt instruments or Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS). It is important to note that KBRA…