A.M. Best Assigns Credit Ratings to New Zealand Medical Professionals Limited

A.M. Best Assigns Credit Ratings to New Zealand Medical Professionals Limited

A.M. Best
Jason Shum, +65 6589 8400, ext. 217
Senior Financial Analyst
jason.shum@ambest.com
or
Moungmo Lee, +65 6589 8412
Managing Director, Analytics
moungmo.lee@ambest.com
or
Christopher Sharkey, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5159
Manager, Public Relations
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
or
Jim Peavy, +1-908-439-2200, ext. 5644
Director, Public Relations
james.peavy@ambest.com

A.M. Best has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” to New Zealand Medical Professionals Limited (NZMPL) (New Zealand). The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

NZMPL is a single-line insurer in New Zealand, focused on providing medical malpractice insurance to medical practitioners and health professionals.

The ratings reflect NZMPL’s very strong risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, consistently profitable operating performance and low product risk profile.

NZMPL’s very strong risk-adjusted capitalization reflects mainly the company’s low underwriting leverage, strong quality of capital and favorable liquidity position. In addition, the company has operated profitably within its core market, supported by favorable claims experience and a competitive expense ratio.

Major offsetting factors in NZMPL’s rating assessment are the company’s limited market profile and small capital base.

As a single-line insurer that captures only a very small percentage of industry premiums, NZMPL has a limited market profile. Furthermore, with a capital size of approximately NZD 3.4 million, the company maintains a thin buffer against the minimum capital requirement under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s non-life solvency standard.

While NZMPL is well-positioned for its current ratings, the ratings could be downgraded if the company’s financial performance deteriorates significantly due to adverse claims experience.

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

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best’s Credit Ratings.

A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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