AM Best has affirmed the financial strength ratings of ‘A’ (Excellent) and long-term issuer credit ratings of ‘a+’ (Excellent) for Solen Versicherungen (SV) in Switzerland and Noble Assurance Company in Texas. The outlook for both credit ratings remains ‘stable’. The affirmation reflects SV’s very strong balance sheet, strong operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also benefit from uplift due to SV’s ultimate parent, highlighting the captive’s strategic importance as a core risk management vehicle for the group. SV’s capital position is supported by a Best’s capital adequacy ratio at the strongest level, and is expected to remain within this range over the medium term. AM Best notes that the captive’s capital buffers are sufficient to absorb a series of large losses, in line with its forward-looking risk tolerance. However, the balance sheet strength assessment also takes into account the concentration of assets in intragroup investments and the large line sizes SV writes in relation to its capital base. SV has consistently delivered strong underwriting results, with a five-year weighted average combined ratio below 25 per cent. While future underwriting performance may face volatility due to high-severity, low-frequency exposures and foreign currency warehousing activities for Shell, SV’s metrics are expected to remain robust. The business profile assessment reflects SV’s central role in Shell’s risk management framework. The captive writes mainly non-life business including offshore and onshore property, liability, and business interruption, along with a small portfolio of life reinsurance linked to Shell’s pension liabilities. Meanwhile, Noble’s ratings are aligned with SV’s as a member of the same rating unit and a Shell subsidiary. Based in Texas, Noble underwrites Shell’s US risks and reinsures them in full to SV through a quota share agreement. According to AM Best, the ratings of SV and Noble reflect their fundamental roles within the Shell group and the group’s continued commitment to sound capital management.
