KBRA Affirms Rating on AeBe ISA Ltd.
10 Oct 2025 | New York
KBRA affirms the A- insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) of AeBe ISA Ltd. (AeBe). The Outlook for the rating is Stable.
Key Credit Considerations
The rating reflects AeBe’s high quality of capital, strong risk-based capitalization, strong management team, a rebalanced investment portfolio with a solid liquidity profile, strong enterprise risk management framework and sound management of the company’s exposure to interest rate risk. KBRA believes that the ISAC framework provides AeBe with a robust corporate structure and operational flexibility. At year-end 2024, AeBe's Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement was 274%. As AeBe continues to execute its business plan, KBRA expects this ratio to decline but remain strong over the medium term. AeBe benefits from an experienced management team with deep expertise in reinsurance, asset management, and the Bermuda market. AeBe has a robust enterprise risk management framework and KBRA expects AeBe’s risk management program to evolve and mature as the company grows. As a reinsurer of asset intensive life and annuity liabilities, AeBe is exposed to interest rate risk that can generate spread compression or incentivize disintermediation in different rate environments. KBRA believes that Agam Bermuda’s proprietary pALM platform provides AeBe with an integrated approach to analyze, price, and manage its business in real time across all levels of the company, thereby mitigating exposure to asset-liability mismatches. In addition, AeBe has repositioned the overall investment portfolio to achieve additional book yield while maintaining credit quality.
Balancing these strengths are AeBe's elevated leverage metrics, limited earnings diversification and extant execution risk to achieve scale within the competitive life/annuity reinsurance market. Leverage metrics deteriorated in 2024, as the balance sheet grew from annuity business arising out of legacy block and forward flow agreements with AeBe's second counterparty. Due to its limited tenure in the market, AeBe’s earnings are currently dependent on a small number of transactions. KBRA expects improved earnings diversification as the company continues to execute on its business plan. While management has a track record of building successful businesses as well as investing insurance company assets, KBRA believes that AeBe still faces execution risk. KBRA views AeBe’s business plan as conservative but notes that the asset intensive life and annuity reinsurance market is dominated by a few large competitors that benefit from scale and brand recognition as well as several newer entrants which may challenge AeBe’s ability to execute its business plan.
Rating Sensitivities
Overall results which exceed the business plan provided to KBRA, greater market position in the asset intensive life and annuity reinsurance sector, a material positive change in risk profile, and/or a reduction in overall leverage metrics could result in positive rating action.
Material underperformance relative to the business plan provided to KBRA, inability to reach scale over the medium term, deterioration in risk-based capitalization below targets provided to KBRA, a further increase in leverage metrics and/or material adverse change in risk profile could result in a negative rating action.
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