AM Best Upgrades Issuer Credit Rating of Berkley International Compañía de Garantías México S.A. de C.V.

MEXICO CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “aa” (Superior) from “aa-” (Superior), affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior), and affirmed the Mexico National Scale Rating (NSR) of “aaa.MX” (Exceptional) of Berkley International Compañía de Garantías Mexico S.A. de C.V. (BICGM) (Mexico City, Mexico). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR has been revised to stable from positive, while the outlooks of the FSR and NSR are stable.

BICGM is a member of W. R. Berkley Insurance Group (Berkley Group), which on a consolidated basis, has a balance sheet strength that AM Best assesses at the strongest level, as well as strong operating performance, a favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).

The Long-Term ICR upgrade reflects Berkley Group’s improved balance sheet strength fundamentals, driven by a robust investment portfolio that is driving consistently strong returns, consistent organic surplus growth over the most recent 10-year period and the group’s strong debt leverage.

The stable outlooks reflect AM Best’s expectation that the group will maintain its balance sheet strength assessment in the strongest range over the intermediate term with strong operating results contributing to surplus growth.

The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect BICGM’s integration with its parent company, W. R. Berkley Corporation (W. R. Berkley), in terms of corporate goals, underwriting, ERM and capital commitments, as well as substantial reinsurance support from its group through Berkley Insurance Company (BIC).

BICGM was formed in November 2016 and is one of W. R. Berkley’s two Mexico subsidiaries. The company received regulatory approval to underwrite surety business in June 2017 and issued its first policy that same month. In 2023, BICGM also requested regulatory approval to underwrite guarantee insurance. With this new line of business, management decided to start 2024 under BICGM, which offers a mix of administrative products in the surety segment, and a lesser portion of credit and judicial products. The company expects to start offering guarantee insurance during 2026. BICGM is backed by a comprehensive reinsurance contract with BIC.

BICGM’s strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is derived from its sound capital position, strengthened further by the comprehensive reinsurance contract with BIC and a growing capital base with 29% five-year compound annual growth rate due to reinvestment of earnings. Furthermore, AM Best recognizes W. R. Berkley’s commitment to its subsidiaries in providing additional capital fungibility to the Mexico operation.

BICGM has been able to grow its business volume during the past nine years. BICGM presented significant premium growth in 2023, mainly driven by increased government construction activities, and the recent nearshoring phenomenon in the north of Mexico. Premium growth was lower in 2024 and reported a minor reduction in generated premiums in 2025, mainly caused by two consecutive years of slowdown of Mexico’s economy and a contraction of the construction sector. The company takes advantage of the reinsurance support received from the Berkley Group, which has allowed BICGM to achieve premium sufficiency, and further strengthened its profitability through investment income.

Negative rating actions could occur to BICGM if the balance sheet strength of the ultimate parent materially deteriorates, including a decline in risk-adjusted capitalization, enough to warrant a less favorable balance sheet assessment.

While considered unlikely, positive rating actions could be taken if the ultimate parent’s operating performance metrics continue to show a favorable trend and align more closely with a very strong operating performance assessment. BICGM’s ratings would mirror those actions.

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 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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