AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of N.V. Univé Her

AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” (Excellent) of N.V. Univé Her (Univé Her) (Netherlands), a wholly owned subsidiary of Coöperatie Univé U.A. (Univé Group), a mutual insurance group domiciled in the Netherlands. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect Univé Her’s 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 ratings also consider Univé Her’s strategic importance to and integration within the Univé Group (the group) as its internal reinsurance vehicle, with the company benefiting from rating enhancement as a result.

Univé Her’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which remained at the strongest level at year-end 2023, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). Given the company’s significant exposure to catastrophe losses, prospective risk-adjusted capitalisation is prone to volatility. An offsetting factor is the company’s dependence on retrocession to manage its natural catastrophe exposure; however, the risks associated with this dependence are partially offset by the high credit quality of the counterparties.

Univé Her’s underwriting results are solid, having generated a five-year (2019-2023) average combined ratio of 75.4% (as calculated by AM Best), and overall operating earnings are supplemented by modest investment returns reflective of the company’s conservative investment portfolio. In 2023, Univé Her reported an after-tax profit of EUR 3.5 million (2022: EUR 6.4 million loss after tax), underpinned by a combined ratio of 98.1% (125%), which improved mainly due to a reduced impact of natural catastrophe events compared with 2022. In addition, the company’s five-year average (2019-2023) return-on-equity (ROE) ratio is 2.8% (as calculated by AM Best). Given the nature of the catastrophe-exposed property reinsurance risks written, Univé Her’s technical performance is subject to periodic volatility.

Given its distinctive role as the group’s main reinsurer, Univé Her benefits from its exclusive access to the reinsurance business ceded by the Univé mutuals and N.V. Univé Schade. Univé Her is predominantly a monoline reinsurer; the company retains the property excess of loss reinsurance risk ceded by the regional mutuals. All other product lines are retroceded to the external reinsurance market, with the exception of motor hull insurance, which has been partially included within Univé Her’s risk appetite beginning in 2020. An offsetting factor to the business profile assessment is the company’s limited geographic diversification, with its portfolio concentrated exclusively within the Netherlands.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM 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 AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising 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. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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