AM Best Places Credit Ratings of The Hand in Hand Mutual Fire Insurance Company Limited and Hand in Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited Under Review With Negative[...]

NOVEMBER 12, 2024 02:37 PM (EST)

AM Best Places Credit Ratings of The Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire Insurance Company Limited and Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited Under Review With Negative Implications

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEXICO CITY - NOVEMBER 12, 2024 02:37 PM (EST)
AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of "bbb+" (Good) of The Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire Insurance Company Limited (HIHF) (Guyana) and the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited (HIHL). Both entities are referred to as Hand-in-Hand Group. This Credit Rating (rating) action follows a delay in the Hand-in-Hand Group providing financial information for 2023.

The under review with negative implications status reflects the uncertainty regarding the Hand-in-Hand Group's financial position and performance considering the lack of 2023 audited financial statements. While AM Best recognizes that the supervisory and regulatory authority (Bank of Guyana) has granted extensions for the delivery of this information, such timelines conflict with AM Best practices.

The ratings are expected to remain under review with negative implications until AM Best has received 2023 audited financial information for the Hand-in-Hand Group and subsequently has assessed the company's rating fundamentals in light of this information.

The ratings of Hand-in-Hand Group reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best's Credit Rating Methodology (Version Aug. 29, 2024), which provides a comprehensive explanation of AM Best's rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best's Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology .

Key insurance criteria reports utilized:

· Evaluating Country Risk (Version June 6, 2024)

· Understanding Global BCAR (Version Aug. 1, 2024)

· Available Capital and Insurance Holding Company Analysis (Version Aug. 15, 2024)

· Scoring and Assessing Innovation (Version Feb. 27, 2023)

View a general description of the policies and procedures used to determine credit ratings. For information on the meaning of ratings, structure, voting and the committee process for determining the ratings and monitoring activities, relevant sources of information and the frequency for updating ratings, please refer to Guide to Best's Credit Ratings.

· Previous Rating Date: Sept. 8, 2023.

· Initial Rating Date: Aug. 26, 2022.

· Date Range of Financial Data Used: Dec. 31, 2019-June 30, 2024

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

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If the ratings referred in this press release do not indicate a specific country suffix, it is understood that they are granted globally and not on a national scale.

AM Best does not validate or certify the information provided by the client in order to issue a credit rating.

While the information obtained from the material source(s) is believed to be reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed. AM Best does not audit the company's financial records or statements, or otherwise independently verify the accuracy and reliability of the information; therefore, AM Best cannot attest as to the accuracy of the information provided.

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AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City.