Sorford Surety Insurance Company, the wholly-owned subsidiary of IBT Group, which is a subsidiary of Eurofinsa, has requested to withdraw from A.M. Best’s ratings process.
Sorford Surety requested to no longer participate after A.M. Best downgraded the captive’s financial strength rating to “B- (Fair)” and the long-term issuer credit rating to “bb-”.
A.M. Best originally placed the captive “under review with negative implications” in February last year after concerns around the implementation and execution risk of its business plan and uncertainty as to the final outcome of its ratings.
However, the ratings agency said Sorford’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, which is relatively adequate for its rating level, expressed concerns associated with the company’s “lack of sustainable business volume since its inception in 2010 and the related deterioration of capital and surplus due to administrative expenses”.
A.M. Best said: “The negative rating outlooks reflect the uncertainty of the company’s fundamental business strategies, ongoing concern about implementation and execution risk, as well as management’s lack of communication and silence relating to the interactive rating process.”
