2025 AUG 15 (NewsRx) — By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News — According to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx journalists, a trademark application has been made for “DEARBORN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY” by Kristin Grant GRANT ATTORNEYS AT LAW PLLC, representing Health Care Service Corporation. This application was made available to the public on August 06, 2025.
The serial number for this application is 88267791.
The international trademark goods and services class code for this trademark application is 036.
As submitted by the applicant, this trademark application relates to the following goods and services: Life, accidental death and dismemberment, critical illness, dental, vision, long-term and short-term disability income insurance services; insurance underwriting, administration and brokerage services; employee benefits administrative services, namely, administration of employee insurance and self-funded insurance plans, and employee assistance programs.
The registrar information for this application is: Kristin Grant GRANT ATTORNEYS AT LAW PLLC, 1185 6th Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036, United States.
(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICRs) of “a-” (Excellent) of the property/casualty subsidiaries and affiliated insurance companies of Kemper Corporation (Kemper) [NYSE: KMPR], collectively referred to as Kemper Property & Casualty Group (Kemper P&C or the group). AM Best also has affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a-” (Excellent) of Kemper’s life subsidiaries, collectively referred to as Kemper Life Group (Kemper Life) (Chicago, IL). Concurrently, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “bbb-” (Good) and the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IRs) and indicative Long-Term IRs of Kemper, the ultimate parent,headquartered in Chicago, IL. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. (See below for further discussion and a detailed listing of all companies and ratings.)
Lastly, AM Best has withdrawn the FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR of “a-” (Excellent) of Infinity Preferred Insurance Company (Cincinnati, OH), each with a stable outlook. Infinity Preferred Insurance Company was previously a subsidiary of Kemper and was sold as a clean shell with no remaining policyholder liabilities on Aug. 1, 2025.
The ratings of Kemper P&C reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
Kemper P&C’s very strong balance sheet strength assessment reflects its strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), supported by excellent financial flexibility and generally favorable reserve development trends. While the group and overall consolidated Kemper Corporation experienced volatility in results between 2021 and 2023, leading to material surplus swings and heightened underwriting and financial leverage, results and key balance sheet metrics have improved markedly in 2024 and through 2025 thus far. The group has returned to generating underwriting gains, which has strengthened surplus levels and stabilized risk-adjusted capitalization. Furthermore, Kemper’s financial leverage has improved substantially through the first half of 2025 owing to the company paying down all of its $450.0 million aggregate principal of 4.35% senior unsecured notes due Feb. 15, 2025 with available cash.
The group also continues to benefit from the implicit and explicit support from its parent company, as well as strategic initiatives such as the exit from preferred home and auto lines and the Kemper Bermuda initiative. These initiatives have provided meaningful capital relief at the enterprise level. However, AM Best notes that Kemper’s capital management policy is aimed at maintaining capital fungibility across the organization. As such, the P&C operating entities are expected to remain a significant source of dividends going forward as profitability continues to improve.
Kemper P&C’s operating performance is currently assessed as marginal, primarily due to significant underwriting losses sustained over the past five years. However, recent results indicate meaningful improvement and stabilization, as the group’s profitability initiatives led to operating income gains in 2024 and through the first half of 2025. Key contributors to this turnaround include rate increases – primarily in the group’s primary market of California – and the implementation of tighter underwriting guidelines. With profitability now restored, Kemper P&C has eased some of its underwriting restrictions in an effort to resume growth in its book of business. AM Best will continue to monitor this growth strategy, along with ongoing regulatory developments, to assess the sustainability of the group’s improved operating performance.
The ratings of Kemper Life reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile, appropriate ERM, and consideration of the group’s affiliation with lead rating unit, Kemper P&C.
In 2022, Kemper Life announced that it was entering into an agreement with Kemper Bermuda to cede 80% of its life business to its offshore affiliate. This initiative, along with a reserve review reduction completed in late 2023, has resulted in the release of over $600 million in dividends to the parent company, Kemper. While management has completed its initiatives related to the Kemper Life business, the balance sheet has stabilized through 2024. Furthermore, the Kemper Life business continues to provide steady underlying earnings, reflective of its adequate operating performance.
The FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a-” (Excellent) have been affirmed with stable outlooks for the members of Kemper Property & Casualty Group:
Trinity Universal Insurance Company
Alpha Property & Casualty Insurance Company
Capitol County Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Charter Indemnity Company
Financial Indemnity Company
Infinity Insurance Company
Infinity Assurance Insurance Company
Infinity Auto Insurance Company
Infinity Casualty Insurance Company
Infinity Indemnity Insurance Company
Infinity Safeguard Insurance Company
Infinity Select Insurance Company
Infinity Standard Insurance Company
Infinity County Mutual Insurance Company
Kemper Independence Insurance Company
Merastar Insurance Company
Mutual Savings Fire Insurance Company
Kemper Financial Indemnity Company
Old Reliable Casualty Company
Response Insurance Company
Response Worldwide Direct Auto Insurance Company
Response Worldwide Insurance Company
Union National Fire Insurance Company
United Casualty Insurance Company of America
Unitrin Advantage Insurance Company
Unitrin Auto and Home Insurance Company
Unitrin County Mutual Insurance Company
Unitrin Direct Insurance Company
Unitrin Direct Property & Casualty Company
Unitrin Preferred Insurance Company
Unitrin Safeguard Insurance Company
Valley Property & Casualty Insurance Company
Warner Insurance Company
The FSR of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICRs of “a-” (Excellent) have been affirmed with stable outlooks for the members of Kemper Life Group:
United Insurance Company of America
Mutual Savings Life Insurance Company
The Reliable Life Insurance Company
Union National Life Insurance Company
The following Long-Term IRs have been affirmed with stable outlooks:
Kemper Corporation—
— “bbb-” (Good) on $400 million 2.4% senior unsecured notes, due 2030
— “bbb-” (Good) on $400 million 3.8% senior unsecured notes, due 2032
— “bb” (Fair) on $150 million junior subordinated debentures, due 2062
The following indicative Long-Term IRs under the shelf registration have been affirmed with stable outlooks for the shelf registration:
Kemper Corporation—
— “bbb-” (Good) on senior unsecured debt
— “bb+” (Fair) on subordinated debt
— “bb” (Fair) on preferred stock
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.
The life insurance and annuity industry has been in a race to catch up with other industries in the adoption and use of digital tools and artificial intelligence. How much progress have life insurance and annuities made in that race to catch up? Two industry experts gave their views during a recent webinar by Sureify.
Andrew Burge, vice president of life insurance development at Nationwide, started his career in banking and was struck by how far behind the life insurance industry was in terms of using digital tools.
“We’re now using data to streamline underwriting. We’re about to enter a new era where it is easier to do business.”
Burge called for the industry “to do more with digital and e-commerce and just making it easier for people to buy the product.” He said many of the processes in the insurance buying journey “are still rooted in forms.”
An aging population means an increased need for life insurance products. Burge said Nationwide is focusing on being more customer-centric.
“We’re trying to put the customer in the center and build the outcome in mind.”
Life insurance industry experiencing an evolution
The life/annuity industry has been experiencing an evolution in a number of areas, especially product design and digital engagement, said Don Desiderato, founder and CEO of Mantissa Group, a strategy consulting firm that serves CIO executives and their leadership teams.
One issue that has evolved is the growth in product design around the popularity of hybrid products, he said. “It’s the ability to combine benefits and create something more consumer oriented and less carrier oriented.”
“We’re seeing holistic, customer-first approaches and lifetime value,” he said. “With the aging population and longer life expectancies, we’re seeing products morphing into retirement solutions.”
Desiderato also cited increased use of online channels and platforms to reach underserved markets.
The digital world “was foisted upon us – it just happened,” he said. “I’ve been able to see how carriers responded to this. We’ve begun to respond and deconstruct this monolithic technology that was there for decades. We’re not there yet, but we’re taking actions to make it work.”
But an increased use of technology won’t replace the agent, Desiderato said, citing the complexity of life insurance and annuities as a major reason why consumers need human help.
“Life insurance and annuities are a critical component of any long-term financial plan. These are not things you navigate on your own over time. Human trust is a major factor in financial decisions like this, and agents are an important dimension of the overall puzzle. Agents are your financial wellness advocate and part of the puzzle.
“The most successful agents are the ones who embrace digital channels because it makes their jobs easier.”
HONG KONG–(BUSINESS WIRE)– AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good), the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” (Good), and the Indonesia National Scale Rating (NSR) of aaa.ID (Exceptional) of PT KB Insurance Indonesia (KB Indonesia) (Indonesia). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.
The ratings of KB Indonesia reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also recognise the wide range of support provided by KB Indonesia’s parent, KB Insurance Co., Ltd. (KBI), which is fully owned by KB Financial Group Inc. (KB Group).
KB Indonesia’s risk-adjusted capitalisation is at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). AM Best expects KB Indonesia to demonstrate continued capital growth through full profit retention over the coming years to meet its domestic regulator’s strengthened capital requirements by 2026. Offsetting factors in the balance sheet strength assessment include considerable counterparty credit risk exposure to domestic (re)insurers with relatively weaker credit quality in compliance with regulatory requirements and volatility from changes in the fair value of its available-for-sale equity investments.
AM Best assesses KB Indonesia’s operating performance as adequate, with a five-year (2020-2024) return-on-equity ratio of 4.7% and a combined ratio of 98.8%, as calculated by AM Best. The company’s underwriting performance has demonstrated moderate volatility due to its small net premium base and exposure to low frequency, high severity losses for its commercial lines of business. Prospectively, AM Best expects improved stability for the company with a growing premium volume and an increase in its generally more stable motor line of business. KB Indonesia’s conservative investment portfolio, which is mainly composed of time deposits and Indonesian government bonds, generates stable investment profits that provide a partial buffer for the underwriting volatility.
As a joint venture between KBI (70%) and PT AB Sinar Mas Multifinance (30%), KB Indonesia is a small-sized non-life insurer domiciled in Indonesia with a majority of its current business sourced from offering coverage to Korean companies in Indonesia. The company’s source of business has demonstrated a diversifying trend following a rising cross-selling business with KB Group affiliates, which entered Indonesia as part of the group’s global expansion strategy and its efforts in penetrating the local market. In terms of the company’s product portfolio, there is a level of concentration on property and engineering lines; however, AM Best expects KB Indonesia to have a more diversified portfolio going forward with an increasing volume of motor and other products sourced through its affiliated companies and other local channels.
KB Indonesia receives rating enhancement from implicit and explicit support from its parent, KBI. The company plays an important role in KB Group’s overall expansion strategy in Indonesia’s insurance market and benefits from the group’s network and distribution channels there. AM Best expects that the parent will provide capital support to KB Indonesia if needed, as evidenced by KBI’s public announcement to support the company fully in fulfilling the strengthened domestic capital requirements that will be applied over the coming years. AM Best expects that KB Indonesia’s planned change in organisational structure with a new intermediate holding company, in compliance with the Indonesian Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) new regulation for financial conglomerates, will lead to a more efficient decision-making process and stronger synergy among affiliates in Indonesia, while the support from the group and KBI to KB Indonesia remains unchanged.
Negative rating actions could arise if KB Indonesia’s risk-adjusted capitalisation significantly deteriorates such as from heightened credit risk following major loss events or from excessive business expansion that materially outpaces the capital growth. Negative rating actions also could occur for KB Indonesia if support from the group and KBI is reduced to an extent that no longer supports the current level of rating enhancement. Positive rating actions could arise if KB Indonesia’s operating performance improves and reaches a level that positively distinguishes the company from its industry peers in a sustainable manner.
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 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.
State insurance regulators report “progress” getting life insurers to pull back on overly optimistic investment growth projections.
Those investments form the reserves that underpin the future benefits promised to policyholders. The Life Actuarial Task Force previewed the effectiveness of Actuarial Guideline 53 at keeping future investment gains in the 3% neighborhood.
Created in 2022, AG 53 established uniform standards for how life insurance companies should calculate reserves when applying risk-based capital rules. It is disclosure-based.
So far, so good, said Fred Andersen during a weekend LATF meeting at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ summer meeting in Minneapolis.
“[W]e are making really good progress, and at this particular time, there’s not a dire need to consider an investment guardrail for AG 53,” said Andersen, chief life actuary at Minnesota Department of Commerce.
AG 53 assigned the Valuation Analysis Working Group to perform “targeted reviews” of industry filings to identify outlier investment projections, Andersen explained. The group identified about 10% of insurers reporting net yield assumptions it considered to be outliers, he added.
Insurers’ net spreads cut
In 2023 reporting, 38% of insurers reported north of 3% net spreads on collateralized loan obligations, or CLOs. One year later, that figure dropped to 17%, Andersen noted.
“I kind of saw AG 53 as an exercise in helping ensure that the company is not reliant on overly aggressive asset return assumptions in order to demonstrate adequacy of reserves,” he said.
The other view is that the fat tail risk of actual assets held should be analyzed even if a fairly conservative returns are modeled, Andersen said. A fat tail risk means the possibility of extreme market moves – far bigger gains or losses – happening more often than traditional models expect.
Task force members debated the odds of numbers on paper matching reality.
“We are projecting 40 years forward, and there’s no way that the actuary can really guarantee, in any way, shape or form, that the management five years from today would actually stick to whatever you think the strategy is,” said Tomasz Serbinowski, an actuary with the Utah Insurance Department.
A mix of measures are needed, said Rachel Hemphill, chief actuary at the Texas Department of Insurance, and a company’s investment strategy has value.
“Yeah, you can’t know exactly what you will do in the future, but you do have a plan, right?” Hemphill said. “I view AG 53 as informative, beyond just seeing whether they’re over-relying on high-net-yield assets. I think it gives a lot of broad insight into the investment approach.”
Asset adequacy on reinsurance
The task force also spent time on AG 55, a new guideline designed to track the quality of assets backing offshore reinsurance deals. LATF spent about 18 months creating the guideline, also disclosure-based, to address concerns over the strength of reserves held by reinsurers.
Regulators want to require initial data reporting by April 1, 2026. LATF is finalizing the templates to collect that data. The NAIC Executive and Plenary Committee adopted the guideline on Tuesday during the final meeting of the summer session.
The initial proposal to tighten the reins on reinsurers was made in February 2024 by David Wolf, acting assistant commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, and Kevin Clark, chief accounting and reinsurance specialist with the Iowa Insurance Division.
U.S. life insurers have nearly doubled their ceded reserves since 2019, increasing from $710 billion to $1.3 trillion in 2023, Fitch Ratings noted in a recent report. During the same period, reserves ceded to offshore jurisdictions nearly quadrupled, exceeding $450 billion.
A proposal to make a key measure of insurance companies’ financial health confidential remained too hot for regulators to tackle during the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ summer meeting.
Yanacheak spoke for about 15 minutes on the RBC issue during the Capital Adequacy Task Force meeting on Tuesday. He summarized some arguments against the proposal and the task force published all comment letters a second time.
The group will take up the RBC proposal in October, Yanacheak said.
“I ask you to please consider that there may be people on your side who are using the informative value of RBC wrongly and potentially endangering the financial well-being of some people,” he said. “There are two very diverse points of view, and there is a middle ground. So, I hope that everyone can see something and understand the perspective of the other.”
RBC requirements provide for a ratio to assess the level of risk associated with an insurance company’s assets. The formula was adopted by the NAIC in 1992. Four major categories were identified for the life formula: asset risk; insurance risk; interest rate risk; and all other business risk. The property/casualty and health formulas were implemented in 1994 and 1998, respectively.
Not a ‘reliable assessment’
The concern is that the wide dissemination of RBC figures is leading to a misunderstanding of insurance companies’ financial strength, Ohio regulators claimed.
“Because the NAIC formula develops threshold levels of capitalization rather than a target level, it is neither useful nor appropriate to use the RBC formula to compare the RBC ratio developed by one insurance company to the RBC ratio developed by another,” the proposal reads. “Comparisons of amounts that exceed the threshold standards do not provide a reliable assessment of their relative financial strength.”
Critics argue that hiding RBC will open up a “slippery slope” in which the total adjusted capital (TAC) and authorized control level (ACL) data elements are next to go. Yanacheak said that is not in anybody’s plan.
“We have not received a formal proposal from anyone to do that,” he said. “Might something change in the future? Yes. Can you continue with your slippery slope argument because of that? I guess you can, but I don’t see that as being fruitful.”
Over the past 18 months, life insurers and consumer advocates found themselves in rare agreement in opposing the RBC proposal.
“As an annuity owner with skin in the game, I’m uniquely qualified to share my strong opposition to the above-referenced proposal,” wrote Peter Gould, an annuity owner from Indiana. “I’m astounded that a regulator, charged with protecting consumers, would even think of suppressing RBC information.”
2025 AUG 13 (NewsRx) — By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Mergers & Acquisitions Daily News — Hanwha Life, South Korea’s first life insurance company, has officially completed the acquisition of a 75% stake in U.S.-based global financial services firm Velocity Clearing, LLC on July 30 (EST). The majority of the stake acquired was owned by an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. The deal marks a bold strategic move into the North American capital markets-beyond Hanwha Life’s traditional insurance business.
With this transaction, Hanwha Life becomes the first Korean insurance company to acquire a U.S. securities firm, “the center of the global capital markets.” The acquisition establishes a platform for Hanwha Life to enhance its profitability through a local U.S. financial company and provide high-quality global financial products to global clients.
Velocity Clearing, LLC, a global financial services firm based in New York, manages the post trade service, including clearing and settlement. As of the end of 2024, the firm held approximately USD 1.2 billion in total assets, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% in revenue over the last three years (2022~2024). The net income is also increasing steadily, with continued profitability expected after the acquisition.
Working closely with Velocity Clearing, LLC, under its existing leadership, the company aims to ensure early operational stability while building strategic synergies with its U.S. asset management affiliate, Hanwha Asset Management (USA) Ltd. and the Hanwha AI Center (HAC), located in San Francisco. This collaboration will combine financial expertise with the advanced AI capabilities to strengthen Hanwha Life’s competitive edge in the U.S. market.
Hanwha Life representative said, “This transaction represents a significant step for Korean finance to establish a presence in the key financial center, the U.S. capital markets. Moving forward, we will continue to strengthen our global business by leveraging digital financial technologies and our global network to ensure sustainable, long-term growth.”
Michael Logan, CEO of Velocity Clearing, stated, “With Hanwha Life’s global vision and support, we expect to accelerate our growth and unlock new opportunities together for our clients. We’re excited about the powerful synergies ahead.”
Brian Schaeffer, president of Velocity Clearing, said, “This partnership with Hanwha Life is client driven, allowing Velocity Clearing to further accelerate its product and geographic expansion.”
Lee Millstein, Chairman of Global Real Estate for Cerberus, stated, “We’re proud to have supported Velocity Clearing through an exciting period of growth, and Hanwha Life is well-positioned to build on that momentum in the company’s next chapter.”
(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)
OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “aa-” (Superior) of Midland National Life Insurance Company (Midland National) and North American Company for Life and Health Insurance (North American) (both domiciled in West Des Moines, IA). In addition, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “a-” (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issue Credit Ratings (Long-Term IRs) of Sammons Financial Group, Inc. (Delaware). In addition, AM Best has affirmed the Long-Term ICR of “aa-” (Superior) of Sammons Financial Group Global Funding. The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Sammons Financial Group, Inc. is an intermediate holding company for Midland National and North American, and is indirectly owned by Sammons Enterprises, Inc. Midland National and North American are the group’s key life/health insurance subsidiaries and jointly referred to as Sammons Financial Group (SFG). (See below for a detailed listing of the Long-Term IRs).
The ratings reflect SFG’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its strong operating performance, favorable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management (ERM).
SFG has a very strong level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The group’s overall balance sheet strength has been supported by good liquidity and strong cash flows from operations. The group also has demonstrated financial flexibility with access to the capital markets if needed and access to the Federal Home Loan Bank. SFG maintains strong interest coverage ratios, and financial leverage remains well within AM Best guidelines for its current ratings. While SFG maintains very strong balance sheet metrics, AM Best notes that the use of surplus notes and captive financing solutions, as well as the use of a Bermuda-based reinsurance affiliate, reduces the overall quality of capital.
SFG’s operating earnings remained strong as it increased earnings year over year due to positive actuarial unlocking, favorable mortality and strong sales while maintaining favorable spreads. The company benefited from an increase in assets under management, favorable results in the annuities segment, and consistent net investment income from a portfolio that is predominately bonds, mortgage loans and alternative assets. The alternative investment portfolio has performed well over the longer term, but it has added an element of earnings volatility at times as these investments are marked-to-market.
SFG continues to benefit from its diverse distribution platform, which includes personal producing agents, independent marketing organizations, the registered investment adviser channel, broker/dealers and banks, as well as credit unions. Product offerings, in its core lines of business, have a favorable market position. SFG also maintains an extensive dynamic ERM program that is commensurate with its risk profile.
The following Long-Term IRs have been affirmed with stable outlooks:
Sammons Financial Group, Inc.:
– “a-” (Excellent) on $500 million 4.75% senior unsecured notes, due 2032
– “a-” (Excellent) on $850 million 3.35% senior unsecured notes, due 2031
– “a-” (Excellent) on $200 million 7% senior unsecured notes, due 2043
– “a-” (Excellent) on $500 million 4.45% senior unsecured notes, due 2027
– “a-” (Excellent) on $750 million 6.875% senior unsecured notes, due 2034
Sammons Financial Group Global Funding — “aa-” (Superior) program rating
– “aa-” (Superior) on all outstanding notes issued under the program
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.
Proprietary index evaluates investors’ market risk vulnerability
86% of high-index investors do not meet the recommended asset diversification benchmark
Nearly half of high-index investors would allocate 49% of their portfolios to cash, doubling recommended levels
LANSING, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Jackson National Life Insurance Company® (Jackson®), the main operating subsidiary of Jackson Financial Inc.1 (NYSE: JXN), today unveiled key findings from its latest research on market risk,2 conducted in collaboration with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. This study, the fourth installment in Jackson’s Security in Retirement Series, sheds light on how investors perceive, plan for and manage market risk, and exposes a surprising truth: those who avoid the risk of losing money on investments may be vulnerable to a different form of market risk — the risk of low long-term returns.
“Our findings challenge the traditional notion that avoiding risk equates to financial security,” said Glen Franklin, Assistant Vice President of Research, RIA and Lead Generation Strategy for Jackson National Life Distributors LLC (JNLD), the marketing and distribution business of Jackson. “The research underscores the importance of aligning financial behaviors with long-term goals and highlights the value of working with a financial professional to help build resilience against market volatility.”
The Jackson Market Risk Vulnerability Index
To better understand market risk exposure, Jackson developed the proprietary Market Risk Vulnerability Index (Index), a tool that evaluates investors’ financial positioning against five key benchmarks: spending, savings, cash allocation, stock-bond split and diversification. Based on how many of the benchmarks they met, investors were scored as low-index (least vulnerable to market risk), medium-index or high-index (most vulnerable to market risk). The Index revealed that:
57% of high-index investors spend over 50% of their income on basic needs, compared to just 5% of low-index investors.
Only 4% of high-index investors meet the recommended stock allocation, leaving them ill-prepared for long-term growth.
High-index investors are more than twice as likely as low-index investors to cite longevity risk as a major concern (56% vs. 27%), yet they are less likely to have a plan in place to address it.
Additional key findings from the study include:
Widespread financial vulnerability. The Jackson report highlights significant financial vulnerability among investors nearing or in retirement. For example, approximately 30% of the survey respondents reported investable assets between $100,000 and $299,999. Many investors fail to meet key benchmarks of general financial health such as appropriate cash allocation, retirement savings targets, or asset diversification, with only 14% of high-index investors meeting the recommended asset diversification benchmark.
Risk-averse investors face heightened risk exposure. Investors in the study who describe themselves as unwilling to take risks are among the most vulnerable to the market risk of not realizing potential investment gains. These individuals often hold excessive cash positions — with their ideal cash holdings averaging 49% of total assets, more than double the recommended 20% threshold3 — and lack diversification. Such behaviors, while cautious on the surface, may leave these investors in a disadvantaged position. High cash holdings can minimize gains during market upswings, and a lack of diversification can leave investors more exposed to market volatility during downturns.
High-index investors lack financial resilience. High-index investors, on average, have investable assets nearly 70% lower than their low-index counterparts. Additionally, their average remaining mortgage balance is 78% higher than that of low-index investors, further limiting their ability to build financial security.
Diversification too often cited as tactic to protect against market risk. While diversification is a foundational strategy for managing many portfolio risks, it is ineffective in protecting against market risk. However, the study found financial professionals and investors widely cite diversification as a key tactic. During systemic market events like the 2008 financial crisis or the 2020 COVID-19 crash, nearly all asset classes decline together, often rendering traditional diversification strategies ineffective without additional protective measures like annuities or hedging tools such as derivatives.
Moderate risk-taking correlates with better outcomes. Investors who adopt a balanced approach to risk (favoring diversification and moderate equity exposure) are more likely to meet key financial benchmarks. They are also more likely to use cost-efficient tools like index mutual funds and ETFs, contributing to better long-term outcomes.
Financial literacy and professional guidance matter. The report found that 72% of low-index investors work with a financial professional, compared to just 43% of high-index investors. This collaboration, combined with higher financial literacy, correlates with greater confidence and preparedness among low-index investors. They are also more likely to engage in effective planning behaviors, such as annual portfolio rebalancing, which is practiced by 56% of low-index investors.
Annuities can play a unique role in helping manage market risk. Of the financial professionals surveyed, 61% use annuities with guaranteed income to manage investment risk for clients in retirement. Annuities may complement traditional strategies by providing protection options, growth opportunities and income, especially when tailored to a client’s vulnerability profile.
“Another key takeaway from this new survey data is that the widespread use of target date funds as a default option in 401(k) plans can help offset misperceptions held by individual investors,” said Andrew Eschtruth, Director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. “Investors tend to prefer lower stock allocations than professionals recommend due to overly pessimistic views of stock returns and risk, so nudging them toward higher allocations can improve their long-term financial security.”
Financial professionals can learn more about the Index and how to use the tool to better understand their clients’ vulnerability to market risk by downloading Jackson’s white paper, available at www.jackson.com/researchcenter.
About the Study & Security in Retirement Series
The research, fielded between October 15-29, 2024, included online surveys of more than 1,000 investors with at least $100,000 in financial assets between the ages of 48 and 78 years. An additional online survey of 400 financial professionals was conducted between November 4-18, 2024, with respondents being client-facing financial professionals with at least 75 clients.
Jackson’s Security in Retirement Series is a multi-phase research initiative in partnership with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College designed to provide actionable insights on key risks to retirement security. Previous studies have explored longevity risk, inflation risk and healthcare risk. The next installment will examine policy risk and how uncertainty about the future of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, tax policy and the federal deficit influences decision making and shapes public awareness and concern.
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ABOUT JACKSON
Jackson® (NYSE: JXN) is committed to helping clarify the complexity of retirement planning—for financial professionals and their clients. Through our range of annuity products, financial know-how, history of award-winning service* and streamlined experiences, we strive to reduce the confusion that complicates retirement planning. We take a balanced, long-term approach to responsibly serving all our stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, distribution partners, employees, regulators and community partners. We believe by providing clarity for all today, we can help drive better outcomes for tomorrow. For more information, visit www.jackson.com.
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Jackson® is committed to ensuring more Americans in or nearing retirement can benefit from greater clarity and confidence in their financial futures. To better support this important goal, we have partnered with leading academic experts at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College to launch the Jackson Security in Retirement Series. This multiphase research effort will take a comprehensive look at a range of potential threats to financial security with the goal of helping financial professionals and retirement savers more effectively identify and manage them. Jackson is not affiliated with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Firm and state variations may apply. Additionally, products may not be available in all states.
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1Jackson Financial Inc. is a U.S. holding company and the direct parent of Jackson Holdings LLC (JHLLC). The wholly-owned direct and indirect subsidiaries of JHLLC include Jackson National Life Insurance Company, Brooke Life Insurance Company, PPM America, Inc. and Jackson National Asset Management, LLC.
2Adam Hayes, Investopedia, “Market Risk Definition: How to Deal with Systemic Risk,” July 31, 2024.
3Eric Whiteside, Investopedia, “The 50/30/20 Budget Rule Explained With Examples,” August 22, 2024.
State insurance regulators are again nibbling around the edges of an actuarial guideline designed to limit unrealistic life illustrations.
Meeting in Minneapolis during the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ summer meeting, the Life Actuarial Task Force discussed proposed changes to Actuarial Guideline 49-A.
Regulators are determined to limit their amendments to a specific section of AG 49-A to address insurers who are including “historical averages exceeding the maximum illustrated rate and backcasted performance,” as the amendment proposal form reads.
The illustration irregularities were uncovered after regulators reviewed illustrations from 13 companies, explained Ben Slutsker, director of life actuarial valuation at the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
“The disclosure that probably brought up the most concern is for companies that have indices that show historical returns for years before that index existed,” Slutsker said. “There’s concerns over whether that could be back fitting already knowing what history is and it’s being shown to the consumer, who may not see that. Even if there’s markings, footnotes, or whatever it is, that just may not come across. [It] could look very optimistic to consumers.”
Approved in 2020, AG 49-A limits the maximum illustrated rate that insurers can use in policy projections to prevent unrealistic growth assumptions. It includes restrictions on exaggerated benefits from indexed loans, a strategy that previously allowed aggressive return assumptions.
Regulators found that insurers often displayed multiple historical averages over different timeframes, often side-by-side with the maximum illustrated rate, regulators noted. The historical averages were sometimes two to four times the maximum illustrated rate.
In addition to discouraging side-by-side comparisons, regulators aim to standardize the historical period for index components that lack 25 years of historical data. Regulators discussed setting the minimum historical period at five years, but some regulators objected.
Ten years is better than five years because it lessens the chance that an agent could only show a rosy positive result, said Wanchin Chou, chief actuary and deputy assistant commissioner in Connecticut.
‘Systemic threat’
Consumer advocates, as well as law firms, have long had IUL illustrations in their sights. Illustrations showing double-digit returns are often unrealistic and harm retirement savers, critics say. Approved in 2015, AG 49 sought to tamp down illustrations with caps and other restrictions.
Insurers almost immediately got around AG 49 by offering IUL bonuses and multipliers. That led to AG 49-A and AG 49-B in 2023.
The task force exposed its changes for comment following the NAIC spring meeting. Larry Rybka, chairman and CEO of Valmark Financial Group, said indexed universal life abuses is a “systemic threat” to retirement security.
“The evidence is unambiguous: today’s IUL illustrations create expectations that are
mathematically impossible to fulfill under real-world conditions,” Rybka wrote in one of a handful of comment letters on the AG 49-A changes.
“Carriers routinely introduce proprietary indexes with no meaningful track record, illustrated using cherry-picked historical scenarios that would likely constitute fraud under securities regulations,” he added.
The growth of proprietary indices is bothersome to many in the industry. At one time, the S&P 500 was used in almost all index products but came with limited ability to design product features. So, carriers created their own indexes and haven’t looked back.
Since then, more than 160 indices have been created. Unlike the S&P 500, few of them have any solid history to draw from.
‘History’ recreated
With no history to draw from to support illustrations, insurers created “backtested” hypothetical performance from proprietary index components. But critics say this results in misleading illustrations untethered from reality.
Mike Yanacheak is the chief actuary at the Iowa Insurance Division. Illustrations are overused by the industry and not appropriate in many cases, he said.
“I think we, at some point in time, need to ask the question whether or not it’s appropriate to use history to create an expectation of future performance, because I think the answer is resoundingly a ‘No,’ ” Yanacheak said. “But I think we need to ask that to see if there is any constituency in the industry that is willing to support that. If there is, then I want to hear it.”
The task force re-exposed the amendment changes for comments on the five- or 10-year minimum history requirement for backtesting.
