AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Bridgehaven Specialty UK Ltd

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) of Bridgehaven Specialty UK Ltd (Bridgehaven Specialty) (United Kingdom). The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bridgehaven Europe Holdings Ltd (Bridgehaven), the non-operating company of the Bridgehaven group. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.  

The ratings reflect Bridgehaven’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings consider Bridgehaven Specialty’s role and strategic importance to Bridgehaven, as the group’s main underwriting platform.

Bridgehaven’s recently announced plan to enter the European Union (E.U.) market is considered to be complementary to its existing operations. Additional revenue growth in the E.U. is expected to be supported by a further capital injection and operations will broadly mirror those already established in the United Kingdom (U.K.).

Bridgehaven is expected to maintain the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), through its startup phase, taking into account AM Best’s additional capital requirements for new company formations. While Bridgehaven has a high dependence on reinsurance due to its hybrid fronting model, its reinsurance counterparties are expected to remain well-diversified and of excellent credit quality. The company’s investment portfolio is comprised of money market funds, as well as U.K. treasury bills, and is expected to remain conservatively managed.

Bridgehaven is expected to generate a good level of profitability in 2025, its second year of underwriting; losses were expected during its first year due to set-up costs and business scaled. AM Best expects Bridgehaven to build relationships predominantly with established commercial specialty focused managing general agents (MGA), for which it will provide insurance capacity. Bridgehaven is presently concentrated by MGA in terms of gross written premium; however, it is expected to experience significant growth and diversify over the coming years. Over time, as the company builds a portfolio of diversified profitable business, earnings are expected to be driven by fee income rather than underwriting or investment profits.

The company has a clearly articulated risk management framework that includes defined risk appetite and tolerance statements, which reflect the key risks of its business. In addition, there is a well-defined onboarding and monitoring process for its MGA partners. Bridgehaven benefits from an experienced management team and board of directors that are aware of the key challenges of their business model. In AM Best’s view, this increases the likelihood of market acceptance and successful execution of its business plan. Nevertheless, execution risk is expected to remain elevated in Bridgehaven’s initial years of operation.

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 specialising 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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