AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Oxford Life Insurance Company and Its Subsidiary
September 13 2024 - 12:05PM
Business Wire
AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable
and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the
Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a” (Excellent) of Oxford Life
Insurance Company (Oxford Life) (Phoenix, AZ), and its subsidiary,
Christian Fidelity Life Insurance Company (Dallas, TX), which are
collectively referred to as Oxford Group. These companies are owned
by the group’s ultimate parent, U-Haul Holding Company [NYSE: UHAL,
UHAL.B], which is also the parent of U-Haul International, Inc.,
North America’s leading “do-it-yourself” household moving and
self-storage operator.
The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Oxford Group’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 negative outlooks reflect internal control deficiencies in
the areas of financial reporting and general ledger account
reconciliations that were uncovered during Oxford’s 2023 statutory
audit. Although AM Best believes these deficiencies have been
remediated fully and internal controls have been reestablished by
management, this will need to be confirmed in the 2024 audit
opinion expected mid-year 2025. Oxford’s operating performance is
expected to remain adequate despite a modest statutory loss in
2023.
Oxford is a multistate, multiline insurance group offering
multiyear guaranteed annuities, fixed annuities, final expense and
Medicare supplement products. The ratings are supported by Oxford’s
very strong balance sheet assessment which has benefited
historically from consistent surplus growth. Premium growth has
been driven by higher sales of the group’s individual annuity
products, specifically its multiyear guaranteed annuity product.
The group has maintained a history of profitable earnings, driven
primarily by consistent net investment income and positive earnings
in its annuity and Medicare supplements lines of business.
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 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. For more information,
visit www.ambest.com.
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Joni Cerbone Senior Financial Analyst +1 908
882 1690 joni.cerbone@ambest.com
Rosemarie Mirabella Director +1 908 882
2125 rosemarie.mirabella@ambest.com
Christopher Sharkey Associate Director, Public
Relations +1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com
Al Slavin Senior Public Relations Specialist +1
908 882 2318 al.slavin@ambest.com