A.M. Best Company, Inc. is an American rating agency designated as an NRSRO by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A credit rating agency is a company that rates the ability of a person or company to pay back a loan. ... Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations is a United States government designation that was created by Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975 to allow federal regulatory oversight of credit rating organizations. ... The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, commonly referred to as the SEC, is the United States governing body which has primary responsibility for overseeing the regulation of the securities industry. ...

Founded in 1899 by Alfred M. Best in New York City, the company moved to Morristown, New Jersey in 1965, and subsequently to Oldwick, New Jersey in 1974. It also maintains offices in London and Hong Kong, and a news bureau in Washington, D.C. 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Alfred M. Best (Caldwell, 1876–1958) was an American actuary. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613 Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... Nickname: Military Capital of the Revolution Location of Morristown in Morris County (L); Location of Morris County in New Jersey (R) Coordinates: Country United States State New Jersey County Morris Founded 1715 Incorporated 1865 Mayor Donald Cresitello (D; term ends December 31, 2009. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... Oldwick is an unincorporated area within Tewksbury Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Nickname: DC, The District Motto: Justitia Omnibus (Justice for All) Location of Washington, D.C., in relation to the states Maryland and Virginia Coordinates: Federal District District of Columbia Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) City Council Chairperson: Vincent C. Gray (D) Ward 1: Jim Graham (D) Ward 2: Jack Evans...

A.M. Best issues financial strength ratings measuring insurance companies' ability to pay claims. It also rates financial instruments issued by insurance companies, such as bonds, notes, and securitization products. Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of catastrophic financial loss. ...

Unlike fellow NRSROs Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings -- all three of which issue ratings for a broad range of business sectors -- A.M. Best historically has specialized exclusively on the insurance marketplace. However, the company recently began issuing debt and financial strength ratings for small and mid-sized commercial banks. Publications Standard & Poors publishes a weekly (48 times a year) stock market analysis newsletter called The Outlook, which is issued both in print and online to subscribers. ... Moodys Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is the holding company for Moodys Investors Service which performs financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. ... Fitch Ratings, Ltd. ...

The company publishes BestWeek, a popular weekly insurance industry newsletter, as well as a monthly magazine, Best's Review, and an online wire service called BestWire. In addition, it annually presents the E-Fusion Awards, granted for outstanding technological innovation in the insurance industry.

A privately held firm, A.M. Best also markets statement file reports culled from financial data reported by insurers to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Its "Aggregates & Averages" series details both current and historical statistics on the U.S. and Canadian property/casualty and life/health industries. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which seeks to organize the regulatory and supervisory efforts of the state Insurance Commissioners around the United States. ...

The company is best known in the United States and its overseas expansion successes have been more limited. A.M. Best Europe, headquartered in London, began operations in 1997, while the Hong Kong office, which hosts A.M. Best Asia-Pacific, opened in 2000. In 2003, the company closed its Toronto office and relocated its Canadian market analysts back to the New Jersey headquarters.

Financial Strength and Issuer Credit Ratings

Best's Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) represent the company's assessment of an insurer's ability to meet its obligations to policyholders. The rating process involves quantitative and qualitative reviews of a company's balance sheet, operating performance and business profile, including comparisons to peers and industry standards and assessments of an insurer's operating plans, philosophy and management. The ratings formulae are proprietary.

The ratings scale includes six "secure" ratings:

• A++, A+ (Superior)
• A, A- (Excellent)
• B++, B+ (Very Good)

The scale also includes ten ratings for companies deemed "vulnerable":

• B, B- (Fair)
• C++, C+ (Marginal)
• C, C- (Weak)
• D (Poor)
• E (Under Regulatory Supervision)
• F (In Liquidation)
• S (Rating Suspended)

A.M. Best also assigns five Not Rated Categories (NR) to insurers that the company may, nonetheless, follow and report on in other respects:

• NR-1: Insufficient Data
• NR-2: Insufficient Size and/or Operating Experience
• NR-3: Rating Procedure Inapplicable
• NR-4: Company Request
• NR-5: Not Formally Followed

Long-Term Credit Ratings

Long-Term Credit Ratings assess the ability of an insurance company, holding company or other legal entity to meet its senior obligations. Ratings from "aaa" to "ccc" sometimes are enhanced with a "+" (plus) or "-" (minus) to indicate whether the issuer is near the top or bottom of a category, and may be designated as Under Review ("u") when recent positive, negative or developing events dictate the rating may be subject to change in the near-term.

Insurance Company Issuer Credit Ratings

Investment Grade

• aaa (Exceptional)
• aa (Superior)
• a (Excellent)
• bbb (Very Good)

Non-Investment Grade

• bb (Fair)
• b (Marginal)
• ccc, cc (Weak)
• c (Poor)
• d (In Default)

Non-Insurance Company Issuer Credit Ratings

Investment Grade

• aaa (Exceptional)
• aa (Very Strong)
• a (Strong)
• bbb (Adequate)

Non-Investment Grade

• bb (Speculative)
• b (Very Speculative)
• ccc, cc, c (Extremely Speculative)
• d (In Default)

Short-Term Issuer Credit Ratings

Short-Term Issuer Credit Ratings assess the ability of a rated entity to meet senior financial commitments on obligations maturing in generally less than one year.

Investment Grade

• AMB-1+ (Strongest)
• AMB-1 (Outstanding)
• AMB-2 (Satisfactory)
• AMB-3 (Adequate)

Non-Investment Grade

• AMB-4 (Speculative)
• d (In Default)

See also

• Standard & Poor's
• Moody's
• Fitch Ratings
• Dominion Bond Rating Service
• Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations
• Reuters
• Bloomberg L.P.
• Morningstar, Inc.

Publications Standard & Poors publishes a weekly (48 times a year) stock market analysis newsletter called The Outlook, which is issued both in print and online to subscribers. ... Moodys Corporation (NYSE: MCO) is the holding company for Moodys Investors Service which performs financial research and analysis on commercial and government entities. ... Fitch Ratings, Ltd. ... Dominion Bond Rating Service is a credit rating agency based in Toronto, Ontario. ... Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations is a United States government designation that was created by Securities and Exchange Commission in 1975 to allow federal regulatory oversight of credit rating organizations. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Bloomberg L.P. is a financial news service founded by Michael Bloomberg in 1981. ... Morningstar, Inc. ...

External links

• (English) A.M. Best Official website