AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of DavidShield Insurance Company
AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of DavidShield Insurance Company
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” (Good) of DavidShield Insurance Company (DSIC) (Israel). DSIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of DavidShield PassportCard Ltd (PassportCard Group), which is ultimately majority-owned by White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (WTM) [NYSE: WTM]. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect DSIC’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. DSIC’s ratings also reflect rating enhancement due to the explicit support received from WTM.
DSIC’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The company benefits from a conservative investment portfolio, as well as good financial flexibility and a strong liquidity profile. DSIC has a high dependency on reinsurance, given its business model as a fronting company; however, this is partially mitigated by a reinsurance panel of strong credit quality. The balance sheet assessment also considers the moderately high financial leverage within the wider PassportCard Group.
DSIC’s profitability is driven by robust reinsurance fee income, given that the company fully reinsures its underwriting risks. Despite various challenges including regional conflict, airspace closures and macroeconomic pressures in 2025, DSIC generated a return-on-equity of 18.3%, as calculated by AM Best, driven by continued positive performance in its Israeli travel and international private medical insurance (IPMI) lines of business.
DSIC has a long history of excellent gross underwriting performance (gross of reinsurance), which ultimately benefits DSIC through reinsurance commissions. The company’s stable investment income further supports its overall operating performance. AM Best’s performance analysis includes consideration of the wider PassportCard Group, which has seen substantial capital deployment across its subsidiaries in line with its strategic growth plans. AM Best expects the PassportCard Group to become sustainably profitable over the short-to-medium term as its foreign business gains scale.
DSIC is a fronting insurer for the PassportCard Group, providing insurance cover for its travel and IPMI lines exclusively in Israel. The company is the market leader in both lines, with its success driven by its innovative technological customer solutions, primarily the PassportCard product. Whilst it is concentrated in two lines of business, the company benefits from diversification through the geographical spread of its policyholders. DSIC also has a growing insurance administration services business with large international companies, which are looking to leverage their unique technology.
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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Contacts
Patrick McCrystal, FIA
Financial Analyst
+44 20 3808 2988
patrick.mccrystal@ambest.com
Jessica Botelho-Young, CA
Director, Analytics
+44 20 7397 0310
jessica.botelho-young@ambest.com
Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations
+1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist
+1 908 882 2318
al.slavin@ambest.com
