New York Life Insurance Co. 'AA+/A-1+' Rating Affirmed On Criteria Review; Outlook Stable

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1 Research Update: New York Life Insurance Co. 'AA+/A-1+' Rating Affirmed On Criteria Review; Outlook Stable Primary Credit Analyst: Michael E Gross, San Francisco (1) ; michael.gross@standardandpoors.com Secondary Contact: Shellie A Stoddard, New York (1) ; shellie.stoddard@standardandpoors.com Table Of Contents Overview Rating Action Rationale Outlook Rating Score Snapshot Related Criteria And Research Ratings List JUNE 18,

2 Research Update: New York Life Insurance Co. 'AA+/A-1+' Rating Affirmed On Criteria Review; Outlook Stable Overview On June 10, 2013, we affirmed our 'AA+' ratings on New York Life following a review under revised insurance criteria and following the revision of the outlook on the United States of America to stable from negative. The ratings reflect our view that the insurer maintains both an excellent business risk profile and extremely strong financial risk profile. The stable outlook reflects our expectation that New York Life will maintain its very strong competitive position and extremely strong financial risk profile. Rating Action On June 10, 2013, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AA+/A-1+' counterparty credit rating on New York Life Insurance Co. following a review under our revised insurance criteria. We also revised the outlook to stable from negative following the revision of our outlook on the United States of America to stable from negative. Rationale The ratings on New York Life Insurance Co. and subsidiary New York Life Insurance & Annuity Corp. reflect our view that the consolidated insurer maintains an excellent business risk profile (BRP) complemented by an extremely strong financial risk profile (FRP). Our view is supported by the company's very strong competitive position and excellent capital strength. Given these credit characteristics, we arrive at an 'aa+' BRP/FRP anchor rating. The BRP reflects the insurer's relatively low-risk product portfolio that features participating whole life insurance liabilities. The 'aaa' indicative group credit profile reflects one additional final notch to incorporate our holistic view of the organization's creditworthiness including its mutual status, the strength and predictability of company earnings, and the overall success of its business model. However, the issuer credit and financial strength ratings are limited to 'AA+' due to consideration of our 'AA+' long-term sovereign credit rating on the U.S. The insurer faces relatively low country risk and low industry risk given that the majority of its operations are in the U.S. life insurance marketplace. New York Life has life insurance operations in Mexico and Taiwan. Our view of low country risk for the U.S. is driven by stable economic growth prospects, JUNE 18,

3 relatively effective and stable political institutions, sophisticated financial systems, and a strong payment culture. Our view of low industry risk in the U.S. life insurance market reflects the relative maturity of the sector, an adequate regulatory infrastructure, moderate product risk, and strong availability of fixed-income instruments to match life and annuity liabilities. Although U.S. life insurers face significant opportunities due to an underpenetrated U.S. life insurance market and increased demand for investment and retirement products, we believe a stable but low-growth economy, low interest rates, and intense competition may limit the sector's near-term growth prospects and potential for higher operating margins. New York Life has a very strong competitive position, reflecting its widely recognizable brand and significant controlled distribution. Its U.S. career agency force, with approximately 9,200 active agents, is quite formidable in number, market penetration, and overall productivity. The company's product suite is centered on low-risk individual whole life insurance, complemented by other life insurance products, immediate and deferred annuities, mutual funds, and third-party asset-management services. The insurer's geographic presence in the U.S. is large and the company maintains significant market share in the Mexican life insurance market. The insurer has extremely strong capital strength and strong earnings. Although, like most, New York Life is hampered by low interest rates, it continues to benefit from favorable mortality gains from its large in-force block and an increased focus on expense efficiency. We believe that meaningful recurring premium volume and investment income will allow New York Life to maintain capital at the 'AAA' level, as measured by our capital model. The company's operating performance, derived from both its insurance and investment groups, has been strong and we expect it to remain strong. Sales of individual life products and guaranteed income annuities increased positively year-over-year. GAAP net income totaled almost $2.1 billion in 2012 after the company paid $1.4 billion in policyholder dividends. We expect net income of approximately $1 billion annually during In our view, New York Life's risk position reflects intermediate risk. The $200 billion general account investment portfolio consists primarily of a well-diversified bond portfolio of strong credit quality. High-risk assets, as defined by our criteria, represent about 136% of total adjusted capital. This is offset by the fact that the insurer has approximately 35% of its liabilities with profit-sharing features. Gross employee benefit liabilities, at 33% of total adjusted capital, are above average relative to large mutual company peers. New York Life has adequate financial flexibility. As a mutual company, its access to capital markets is limited, although it has demonstrated prior success in issuing surplus notes. The company has $2 billion in surplus notes outstanding. We view low financial leverage of 9.1%, fixed-charge coverage of 10.5x, and strong earnings generation as positive attributes to the company's overall financial flexibility. JUNE 18,

4 New York Life has a strong enterprise risk management (ERM) program. Its ERM framework is supported by a strong ERM culture that has embedded ERM in all aspects of management decision making. The insurer's ERM framework is led by the company's Chief Risk Officer and supported by a risk-management department and risk officers in the business units. The insurer's board has reviewed the risk tolerance framework for several years. We believe that New York Life has robust processes to identify and evaluate risk/reward trade-offs, and that it is unlikely to experience losses outside of its chosen tolerances. We view New York Life's management team--led by CEO Ted Mathas--and its strategy positively and as clear strengths to the ratings. The management team clearly manages for long-term stability and strength, with a commitment to mutuality and the policyholder. The company has shown consistent commitment to its career agency distribution and to its core individual life insurance product line, with the participating whole life product at its core. We view the insurer's liquidity as exceptional based on a conservative liability profile and a 2011 liquidity ratio of 243% as measured by our liquidity model. Given the stability of New York Life's business profile, we expect the company to maintain a liquidity ratio of at least 220%. The company has minimal collateral posting risk and no significant debt covenants or ratings triggers. Outlook The outlook is stable. We expect New York Life to maintain its very strong competitive position and extremely strong financial risk profile. We could take negative rating actions if: The U.S. sovereign rating is lowered; or The financial risk profile--specifically capital strength--deteriorates unexpectedly. Rating Score Snapshot Financial Strength Rating BRP/FRP Anchor Business Risk Profile IICRA Competitive Position Financial Risk Profile Capital & Earnings Risk Position Financial Flexibility AA+/Stable/-- aa+ Excellent Low Risk Very Strong Extremely Strong Extremely Strong Intermediate Risk Adequate JUNE 18,

5 Modifiers +1 ERM and Management 0 Enterprise Risk Management Strong Management & Governance Strong Holistic Analysis +1 Liquidity Exceptional Support 0 Group Support 0 Government Support 0 Related Criteria And Research Insurance Rating Methodology, May 7, 2013 Enterprise Risk Management, May 7, 2013 Group Rating Methodology, May 7, 2013 Methodology For Linking Short-Term And Long-Term Ratings For Corporate, Insurance, And Sovereign Issuers, May 7, 2013 Methodology: Management And Governance Credit Factors For Corporate Entities And Insurers, Nov. 13, 2012 Principles Of Credit Ratings, Feb. 16, 2011 Refined Methodology And Assumptions For Analyzing Insurer Capital Adequacy Using The Risk-Based Insurance Capital Model, June 7, 2010 Hybrid Capital Handbook: September 2008 Edition, Sept. 15, 2008 Ratings List Ratings Affirmed; Outlook Action To From New York Life Insurance Co. Counterparty Credit Rating AA+/Stable/A-1+ AA+/Negative/A-1+ Financial Strength Rating AA+/Stable/-- AA+/Negative/-- New York Life Insurance & Annuity Corp. Counterparty Credit Rating AA+/Stable/-- AA+/Negative/-- Financial Strength Rating AA+/Stable/-- AA+/Negative/-- Ratings Affirmed New York Life Global Funding New York Life Funding Senior Secured New York Life Insurance Co. Subordinated AA+ AA- New York Life Capital Corp JUNE 18,

6 Commercial Paper A-1+ Complete ratings information is available to subscribers of RatingsDirect at and at All ratings affected by this rating action can be found on Standard & Poor's public Web site at Use the Ratings search box located in the left column. JUNE 18,

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