| Wed, Oct 14, 2009 |
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(RGA) Reinsurance Group of America Ratings Affirmed by A.M. Best
Rating agency A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating [FSR] of A+ and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of RGA Reinsurance Company and RGA Life Reinsurance Company of Canada. A.M. Best also has affirmed the ICR of “a-” and the debt ratings of the existing debt securities and indicative ratings of Reinsurance [...]
(RGA) Reinsurance Group of America Ratings Affirmed by A.M. Best
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| Tue, Mar 31, 2009 |
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RGA Reinsurance Group – Future Outlook
Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE: RGA) is an insurance holding company. The company is primarily engaged in traditional individual and group life, asset-intensive, critical illness and financial reinsurance. [More...] |
| Thu, Mar 19, 2009 |
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At Assurant Investor Day
I own a number of insurers in my portfolio. Each of them has hard-to-replicate business models, with strong cultures, and good management teams (excluding HIG, which is merely a speculation at present). The tickers are listed below.But Assurant is the best in my opinion. Unlike many companies in the life space, their liabilities are stable. Unlike many P&C insurers, their distribution model is inexpensive, and the downside is limited. Unlike many health companies, by focusing on individuals and small groups, and not using “teaser rates,” they have had decades of constant profitability. Unlike many life companies, if the S&P 500 goes up or down, they have no direct risk.Earnings were in the $5+ range in 2007 and 2008. They should be in the same range in 2009, and with Assurant, the [More...] |
| Sun, Feb 01, 2009 |
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Short Interest Update
If you are an avid short seller, the financial sector is of particular interest. I did some research on short interest levels for various financial-related industries and, as a whole, the sector's short interest level was down 3% (as of Jan 15th). The industries researched are the 1) broker-dealers, large banks, 2) securities processors, 3) regional banks, 4) online brokers, 5) specialty/mortgage finance, 6) life insurance, 7) asset management, 8) p&c insurance, and 9) reinsurance. The largest increase in short interest came from the securities processors, up +42% (partially thanks to STT: +86%). The runners up were the broker-dealers and large banks, up 8%. Next came asset management with a +4% increase. Life insurance saw a 0% increase, and all other sub-sectors saw a decrease in short interest [More...] |
| Sun, Sep 14, 2008 |
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Investing in Financial Stocks is Tough
At RealMoney, I wrote an article in 2005 called, Buyers Beware: Financials are Different. In addition to many other things I mentioned there, I gave six ways that financials were different: Tangible assets play only a small role in a financial company. What constrains the growth of an industrial company? The fixed assets (plant and equipment) limit the technical amount of product that can be delivered in a year. Demand is the ultimate limiting factor, but this affects financial, industrial and services businesses alike. But with a financial company, sometimes the limits are akin to a service business (”If only we had more trained sales reps”), but more often, capital limits growth. The [More...] |
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