AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for Somers Re Ltd. and Its Subsidiaries, Places Credit Ratings of Watford Insurance Company Under Review with Positive Implications

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has revised the outlooks to positive from stable and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” (Excellent) of Somers Re Ltd. (Bermuda) and its subsidiaries: Watford Insurance Company Europe Limited (Gibraltar); Watford Specialty Insurance Company (New Jersey); and Axeria IARD (France). In addition, AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “bbb-” (Good) of Somers Group Holdings Ltd. (Somers) (Bermuda), the group’s holding company. Additionally, AM Best has placed under review with positive implications the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of “a-” (Excellent) of Watford Insurance Company (WIC) (Kansas City, MO), formerly owned by Somers.

The Credit Ratings (ratings) of Somers reflects its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

Somers had the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), as of year-end 2023. The group’s capitalization recovered after it was impacted by unrealized investment losses in 2022 and is supportive of the very strong balance sheet strength assessment.

Somers has a developed global reinsurance and insurance platform. Business is sourced and underwritten primarily through contracts with Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its entities, which also provides the core functions for the company’s underwriting operations. Historically, the group has focused on medium- to long-tailed lines of business of lower volatility; however, more recently, the group has diversified into higher margin but more volatile short-tailed lines of business.

The positive outlooks stem from the group’s de-risked investment portfolio, which has historically included leveraged loans and subprime credit assets and is now almost entirely investment-grade invested assets. Additionally, underwriting performance has been trending in a favorable direction over the last five years and the group achieved underwriting profitability in 2023. Profitable or breakeven underwriting, coupled with low-volatility investment income, is projected to be accretive to the group’s capital position and support enhanced balance sheet strength.

The ratings of WIC have been placed under review with positive implications following the company’s sale to Arch Capital Group Ltd. (Arch).

AM Best expects to resolve the under review with positive implications status when WIC is fully integrated into the Arch organization.

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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. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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