S&P elevates QBE LMI's rating - Insurance News Magazine

S&P elevates QBE LMI’s rating | Insurance Business Australia

Property

S&P elevates QBE LMI’s rating

Upgrade follows criteria adjustment

Property

By
Roxanne Libatique

QBE Lenders’ Mortgage Insurance (LMI) has announced an upgrade in its rating from “A” to “A+” following adjustments in S&P Global Ratings’ criteria for assessing insurers’ risk-based capital.

The revised criteria have positively impacted the capital adequacy of QBE LMI, prompting S&P to raise its assessment of QBE LMI’s financial risk profile from “strong” to “very strong.”

This development positions QBE LMI as the highest S&P-rated private LMI provider in Australia.

The ratings agency has affirmed a stable outlook, expressing confidence that the company “will maintain very strong capital and sound earnings.”

Factors that contributed to rating change

According to QBE LMI, the factors that contributed to the enhanced rating include:

the effectiveness of its quota share reinsurance structure, bolstering its capacity and resilience
the “A+” rating of its parent company, QBE Insurance Group
its significant market share, coupled with a diverse customer base that includes major banks, regional lenders, international banks, and a leading share of customer-owned authorised deposit-taking institutions

In other news, the reinsurance division of QBE Insurance Group appointed a new vice president – specialty underwriter.