AM Best affirms the Financial Strength Rating of 'A' (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of 'a' (Excellent) of National Guaranty Insurance Company of Vermont (NGIC). The outlook of the ratings is stable. The ratings reflect NGIC's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, alongside its very strong operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. They also acknowledge the captive's strategic role within Waste Management (WM), one of the leading providers of comprehensive waste management environmental services in North America. NGIC forms a strategic and integral part of WM's enterprise risk management programme, with the parent having wholly funded the captive's capitalisation through a demand note and provided additional support through letters of credit as exposures have changed. The captive supports a portion of WM's financial assurance programme. Over the past decade, NGIC has remained consistently profitable, with combined ratios that outperformed the industry and its peers by wide margins and excellent return on revenue metrics. That trend continued in 2025, with solid underwriting gains and growing net investment income contributing to strong overall earnings. AM Best expects NGIC to continue to produce favourable operating results, driven by extensive loss controls that have resulted in a loss-free history for the captive. NGIC is licensed in two states and operates in 27 states as a non-admitted insurer to meet WM's financial assurance obligations. AM Best considers the captive's enterprise risk management appropriate, with a developed framework and risk management capabilities in line with its risk profile. The stable outlook reflects AM Best's expectation that NGIC will sustain its current level of operating profitability and continue to outperform peers while maintaining its very strong balance sheet strength assessment.
