July Standing. and 21 life/health carriers kept their A or higher rating intact for at least 50 consecutive years. property/casualty writers

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1 July 2013 BEST S REVIEW Monthly Insurance News Magazine Insurers Agents & Brokers Reinsurers The Issue Standing the Test of Time Sixty property/casualty insurers and 11 life/health insurers have maintained a Best s Financial Strength of A or higher for at least 75 years. As insurers continue to pull themselves out of one of the worst economic downturns in history, 71 insurance companies 60 property/casualty carriers and 11 life/health insurers stood the test of time by retaining an A.M. Best credit rating of A or higher for at least 75 consecutive years. Another group of 81 companies 60 property/casualty writers and 21 life/health carriers kept their A or higher rating intact for at least 50 consecutive years. Property/casualty carriers Federal Insurance Co., Hartford Fire Insurance Co. and New Hampshire Insurance Co. all have 107 consecutive years with an A or higher rating. Federal Insurance, a member of the Chubb Corp., began business in March 1901 under the laws of New Jersey. The company redomesticated to the state of Indiana in Hartford Fire Insurance, whose parent is Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., opened its doors for business in American International Group company New Hampshire Insurance was incorporated on July 7, 1869, under the laws of New Hampshire as New Hampshire Fire Insurance Co. The word Fire was deleted from

2 the title in The company redomesticated to Pennsylvania in On the life/health side, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and Prudential Insurance Company of America both have 86 consecutive years of A or higher ratings from A.M. Best. Milwaukee, Wis.-based Northwestern Mutual Life was incorporated in 1857, originally as Mutual Life Insurance Company of Wisconsin. The present title was adopted in Prudential Insurance Company of America, a member of Prudential Financial Inc., was originally incorporated as the Widows and Orphans Friendly Society; in 1875 the name was changed to the Prudential Friendly Society. The present title was adopted in 1877, and in 1943, the company became completely mutualized. In 2001, Prudential demutualized and has become one of the largest publicly traded financial institutions within the U.S. life and annuity segment. 107-Year Tradition For 107 years, A.M. Best Co. has been issuing financial strength ratings or opinions on the ability of individual insurers to pay claims on the coverage they have underwritten. A select group of carriers has consistently maintained strong financial strength ratings for the past 50 and 75 years, despite recessions, catastrophes and other perils. To identify the companies with the longest record of consistent financial strength, Best s analysts pored over the rating agency s proprietary data primarily Best s Key Guides and Best s Insurance Reports to accumulate and verify ratings and other pertinent data dating back to A.M. Best s Scale has changed over time in an ongoing effort to increasingly distinguish the relative financial strength of insurers and adapt to changes in the insurance industry. Therefore, in certain circumstances it was necessary to translate or con- Rated for 75 Years 21st Century Pacific Ins Co A AAA Northern California NV UT A+ American Automobile Ins Co A American Insurance Company A American States Insurance Co A Amica Mutual Insurance Co A++ Baltimore Equitable Society A+ Cambridge Mutual Fire Ins Co A+ Camden Fire Insurance Assoc A u Chartis Property Casualty Co A Continental Casualty Company A COUNTRY Mutual Insurance Co A+ Euler Hermes NA Insurance Co A+ Farmers Mutual Ins Co of NE A Federal Insurance Company A++ Federated Mutual Ins Co A+ Fidelity and Deposit Co of MD A+ Fireman's Fund Insurance Co A General Ins Co of America A General Reinsurance Corp A++ Germantown Mutual Ins Co A Granite State Insurance Co A Great American Insurance Co A Great Northern Insurance Co A++ Hartford Accident & Indem Co A Hartford Casualty Ins Co A Hartford Fire Insurance Co A Hartford Steam Boiler I & I A++ Hartford Underwriters Ins Co A Illinois National Insurance Co A Insurance Co of the State PA A Lititz Mutual Insurance Co A Merrimack Mutual Fire Ins Co A+ Montgomery Mutual Ins Co A Munich Reinsurance America Inc A+ Mutual Assurance Society of VA A+ National Fire Ins Hartford A National Surety Corporation A National Union Fire Ins Co PA A Nationwide Mutual Ins Co A+ New Hampshire Insurance Co A New Jersey Manufacturers Ins A++ New York Central Mutual Fire A+ Continued on page 50

3 Rated for 75 Years Continued from page 49 Ohio Farmers Insurance Co A OneBeacon Insurance Company A u Pacific Indemnity Company A++ Peerless Insurance Company A Pharmacists Mutual Ins Co A Philadelphia Contrib for Ins A+ Quincy Mutual Fire Ins Co A+ Selective Ins Co of America A St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins Co A+ State Automobile Mutual Ins Co A State Farm Mutual Auto Ins Co A++ Tri-State Insurance Co of MN A+ Twin City Fire Insurance Co A United Services Auto Assn A++ Western Surety Company A Westfield Insurance Company A Westport Insurance Corp A+ Source: A.M. Best Data. s as of May 13, 2013 vert various older ratings to conform to the present rating scale. (Note that these translations do not represent any material change or re-evaluation of a company s ratings; they are merely a conversion from one scale to another). The original rating system, implemented in 1906, was devised by the company s founder, Alfred M. Best. In 1921, a new rating scale, General Policyholders s, replaced the previously used Desirability s, which applied only to property/casualty insurers. Desirability s consisted of two components: a loss-paying record, ranked on an alpha scale with A being the best; and a rating of management quality, ranked on a numeric scale with 1 being the best. An Evolving Process The rating scale adopted in 1932 had two components: the New Resources, the forerunner of The Global Symbol of Financial Strength Financial Strength A M BEST Life/Health Insurers Rated for 75 Years Columbus Life Insurance Co A+ COUNTRY Life Ins Co A+ Genworth Life and Annuity Ins A Metropolitan Life Ins Co A+ New York Life Ins Co A++ Northwestern Mutual Life Ins A++ Penn Mutual Life Ins Co A+ Principal Life Insurance Co A+ Prudential Ins Co of America A+ Standard Insurance Company A Western and Southern Life Ins A+ Source: A.M. Best Data. s as of May 13, 2013 A Excellent A.M. Best Company is the leading international insurer rating agency, dedicated to serving the global insurance industry in more than 70 countries. For more information about obtaining a Best s Credit, please call (908) , ext. 5576, or ratings@ambest.com A Best s Financial Strength opinion addresses the relative ability of an insurer to meet its ongoing insurance obligations. To read the full text of A.M. Best s ratings statement, please visit A

4 Best s s This History Project is based on Best s Financial Strength s. A Best s Financial Strength is an independent opinion of an insurer s financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations. The rating is based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a company s balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile. A.M. Best Company was founded in 1899 with the purpose of performing a constructive and objective role in the insurance industry toward the prevention and detection of insurer insolvency. This mission led to the development of Best s s, which are now recognized worldwide as the benchmark of assessing insurers financial strength. Best s ratings opinions reflect an in-depth understanding of business fundamentals garnered from more than 100 years of focusing solely on the insurance industry. This is one reason why insurance industry professionals have consistently ranked Best s s No. 1 in confidence, usefulness and understanding. A Best s is an independent third-party evaluation that subjects all insurers to the same rigorous criteria, providing a valuable benchmark for comparing insurers, regardless of their country of domicile. Such a benchmark is increasingly important to an international market that looks for a strong indication of stability in the face of widespread deregulation, mergers, acquisitions and other dynamic factors. Rated for 50 Years Continued on page 52 Alfa Mutual Insurance Company A AMCO Insurance Company A+ American Cas Co Reading, PA A American Economy Insurance Co A American Family Mutual Ins Co A American Home Assurance Co A American Security Insurance Co A American States Ins Co of TX A Associated Indemnity Corp A Barnstable County Mut Ins Co A Bay State Insurance Company A+ Bear River Mutual Ins Co A Church Mutual Insurance Co A Cincinnati Insurance Company A+ Commerce and Industry Ins Co A Continental Western Ins Co A+ Economy Fire & Casualty Co A Erie Insurance Exchange A+ Farm Bureau Mutual Ins of ID A+ Farm Bureau Prop & Cas Ins Co A Farmers Automobile Ins Assn A Farmers Mutual Hail Ins of IA A First National Ins Co of Amer A Generali USB A Great American Assurance Co A Great American Insurance Co NY A Hastings Mutual Insurance Co A+ Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual A Lightning Rod Mutual Ins Co A Merchants Bonding Co (Mutual) A Midwestern Indemnity Company A Mount Vernon Fire Ins Co A++ Mountain West Farm Bureau Mut A National Fire & Marine Ins Co A++ National Indemnity Company A++ Nationwide Mutual Fire Ins Co A+ Netherlands Insurance Co A North Carolina Farm Bureau Mut A North Star Mutual Ins Co A+ Otsego Mutual Fire Ins Co A+ Pennsylvania Insurance Company A u Philadelphia Contrib Ins Co A+ Pioneer State Mutual Ins Co A+

5 Rated for 50 Years Continued from page 51 Safeco Ins Co of America A Standard Guaranty Ins Co A State Auto Prop & Cas Ins Co A State Farm Cty Mutual of TX A++ State Farm Fire & Casualty Co A+ Swiss Reinsurance America Corp A+ Tennessee Farmers Mutual Ins A+ Texas Pacific Indemnity Co A++ Tokio Mar & Nichido Fire USB A++ Transportation Insurance Co A Union Insurance Company A+ United States Liability Ins Co A++ Universal Surety Company A Universal Underwriters Ins Co A+ Valley Forge Insurance Co A Vigilant Insurance Company A++ Western Reserve Mutual Cas A Source: A.M. Best Data. s as of May 13, 2013 Life/Health Insurers Rated for 50 Years American National Ins Co A American United Life Ins Co A+ Banner Life Ins Co A+ Canada Life Assurance Co A+ Great-West Life Assurance Co A+ Guardian Life Ins Co of Amer A++ Kansas City Life Ins Co A Liberty National Life Ins Co A+ Lincoln National Life Ins Co A+ Manufacturers Life Ins Co A+ Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins A++ Minnesota Life Ins Company A+ Nationwide Life Ins Co A+ Pacific Life Insurance Company A+ Protective Life Ins Co A+ ReliaStar Life Insurance Co A State Farm Life Ins Co A++ Sun Life Assur Co of Canada A+ United Farm Family Life Ins Co A United of Omaha Life Ins Co A+ United States Life Ins of NY A Source: A.M. Best Data. s as of May 13, 2013 today s Financial Size Category; and the General Policyholders, which evolved into today s Financial Strength s. From 1935 through 1975, A.M. Best did not assign letter ratings to life/health companies. Instead they had comments. In order to complete this rating history project, a translation was devised to convert these comments to equivalent letter ratings. For example, from 1935 to 1952, More than Ample was found to be equivalent to today s A rating. Anniversary BestMark A.M. Best Co. has a program to recognize insurance companies that have maintained a financial strength rating of A or higher for at least 25 years. The Anniversary BestMark program consists of a special icon distinct from the standard BestMark that incorporates the company s name and acknowledges the year a company first achieved the financial strength rating of A. Print and Internetcompatible versions of the icon will be supplied. Eligible companies can use this icon in a manner similar to the current BestMark for example, on their websites, in print and online advertising, and on the cover of Best s Report reprints. Eligible companies may request an Anniversary BestMark via to bestmarkinsurers@ ambest.com or phone call to A.M. Best, , ext Financial Strength A M BEST A or Higher 1976 YOUR COMPANY NAME HERE