KBRA Upgrades IFSR of Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia
18 Aug 2023 | New York
KBRA upgrades the insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) to A+ from A on Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia. The Outlook for the rating is Stable. Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia (MAS) is a mutual assessment property and casualty insurance company that primarily writes homeowners insurance, only in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Related insurance coverages include fire and allied lines written as dwelling property insurance and personal umbrella insurance. The company is domiciled in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with its home office in Richmond, Virginia.
The upgrade reflects actions taken in recent years to strengthen the employee base and implement succession planning, the creation of additional Board Committees to strengthen risk oversight, significant progress to enhance and document the Enterprise Risk Management framework and, most recently, the significant strengthening of an already robust catastrophe reinsurance program.
Key Credit Considerations
The ratings reflect MAS' ability to withstand extreme tail events given its robust catastrophe program, strong commitment to mutuality and its members/owners, strict underwriting and appropriate pricing, very strong liquidity and high quality bond portfolio, high customer retention, minimal catastrophe exposure relative to surplus, local market knowledge and customer relationships, and unique ability to assess its members.
Balancing these strengths are unfavorable statutory underwriting metrics, product and geographical concentrations and elevated investment risk.
Rating Sensitivities
KBRA does not expect positive rating action over the near term. However, further deepening and development of the management team to guard against key person risk or improved profitability and reduced asset risk concentrations could result in a positive rating action over the longer term.
Deterioration in underwriting results, further concentrations in invested assets, unmanaged departures of key staff members, exposure growth in excess of MAS's ability to preserve surplus through reinsurance, or an inability to retain policyholder/members over the long term could result in a negative rating action.
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