AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Colonnade Insurance S.A.
January 10 2025 - 10:47AM
Business Wire
AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A-
(Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-”
(Excellent) of Colonnade Insurance S.A. (Colonnade) (Luxembourg), a
member of the Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) [TSX:
FFH] group of companies. The outlook of these Credit Ratings
(ratings) is stable.
The ratings reflect Colonnade’s balance sheet strength, which AM
Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating
performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise
risk management (ERM).
Colonnade benefits from the explicit and implicit support
provided by Fairfax. Examples of explicit support include the
provision of investment support and occasional capital
contributions. Fairfax’s commitment to Colonnade’s strong balance
sheet assessment was evident in multiple capital contributions over
its early operating history, though in recent years, capital
generation has been through investment returns and profitable
underwriting. Going forward, AM Best expects that Colonnade will
continue to support its business needs through organic capital
generation, as it implements growth plans and continues to invest
in company infrastructure.
Colonnade’s premium volume grew over 20% year over year driven
by continued growth of the core book of business, bolstered by rate
improvement. There is an expectation that the growth in premiums
will continue over the next couple of years.
Colonnade’s adequate operating performance has been driven by
its very favorable loss performance, which is offset somewhat by a
higher expense ratio. As Colonnade continues to mature, investments
in underwriting efficiencies are expected to continue to contribute
to greater profitability. Colonnade has generated an underwriting
profit consistently in recent years.
The company’s neutral business profile reflects its
concentration in Central and Eastern Europe, with the three largest
countries – Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic – representing
approximately 75% of the premium written. Concentration risk is
offset by the dispersion of the remaining 25% of its business in
three other central European countries and Colonnade’s diverse
product offering.
AM Best considers the company’s risk management capability to be
in line with its risk profile, and it is supported by Colonnade’s
focus on maintaining geographic and by-line diversified business,
conservative reserving and per-risk reinsurance limits, supporting
the assessment of appropriate. The company benefits from a
comprehensive and well-documented ERM program and continues to grow
more independent in its risk management functions, while continuing
to benefit from the risk management expertise of its ultimate
parent.
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.
Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating
Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Patrick Cyphers Financial Analyst +1 908 882 1719
patrick.cyphers@ambest.com Gregory Dickerson Director +1 908 882
1737 gregory.dickerson@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
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