Best s Rating Report

Transcription

1 Cincinnati, Ohio A Ultimate Parent: American Financial Group, Inc GREAT AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY Mail: P.O. Box 5420, Cincinnati, OH Web: Tel: Fax: AMB#: NAIC#: Ultimate Parent#: FEIN#: BEST S CREDIT RATING Best s Financial Strength Rating: A Best s Financial Size Category: XV Outlook: Stable RATING RATIONALE Great American Life Group (AMB# ). Rating Rationale: The rating assignments of the members of the Great American Life Group (Great American Group), which includes Great American Life Insurance Company (GALIC) and Annuity Investors Life Insurance Company (AILIC), reflect the group s market position within fixed-indexed annuities, its consistent net operating earnings and strong risk-adjusted capitalization. The ratings also recognize the group s strategic value as a material contributor to the consolidated financial results of its parent, American Financial Group, Inc. (AFG). Offsetting rating factors include the group s concentrated business profile within the individual annuity market, premium declines within the educational channel, and the group s exposure to real estate-related investments, in particular, residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), relative to its peers. The Great American Group continues to be a market leader in fixedindexed annuity sales in the bank channel. Strong persistency of the group s two-tiered annuities and its fixed-indexed annuity sales have enabled the group to more than offset the ongoing decrease in 403(b) Printed September 25, Page 1 of 7

2 first-year premiums. The Great American Group has reported a significant increase in single premium fixed and fixed-indexed annuity products in recent years. Due to improved distribution from its bank channels and independent agents, as well as favorable investment margins, the group has remained competitive in the pricing of its single premium annuity products. Strong annuity sales have enabled the group to report consistent growth in net operating earnings. The sizable premium growth has also resulted in a significant increase in the group s assets under management, thus resulting in increasing absolute net investment income, which has also contributed to organic growth in earnings despite industry-wide pressures of low interest rates. Finally, the group has a stable operating earnings profile, although concentrated, which has resulted in both GALIC and AILIC maintaining strong levels of risk-adjusted capitalization. However, A.M. Best notes a more concentrated business profile; as its ordinary life and accident & health insurance lines of business continue to run off, the Great American Group has become almost exclusively an annuity writer. With over nine-tenths of its reserves in annuities, the group is more dependent than ever on the pricing and profitability of its annuity products. A.M. Best notes that the members of the Great American Group have remained diligent in the pricing of annuity products since the onset of the low interest rate environment. The group has seen sizable premium growth in bank annuities, although new annuity premiums in the educational (403(b)/457) channel continue to decline. A.M. Best notes that bank channel sales growth within GALIC has more than offset the decline in premiums within its educational marketplace. While the overall investment portfolio contains a small percentage of mortgage loans, real estate and equities, it maintains a higher percentage of non-agency RMBS and additional high exposure to collateralized loan obligations as a percentage of total capital. While there is some concentration risk in these asset classes, both asset classes have continued to perform well. A.M. Best believes the potential for positive rating actions for the members of the Great American Group in the near to medium term would be limited to positive rating actions taken by A.M. Best on the core property/casualty operations of AFG or to an increase in A.M. Best s view of the strategic importance of the group to AFG. A negative rating action could result from a negative rating action taken by A.M. Best on the core property/casualty operations of AFG. A negative rating action also could occur should there be a material change in A.M. Best s view of Great American Group s importance to AFG. Addition- ally, a negative rating action could occur should there be a significant and sustained decline in risk-adjusted capitalization. KEY FINANCIAL INDICATORS ($000) Total Capital Capital Asset Net Net Surplus Valuation Premiums Invest Net Year Assets Funds Reserve Written Income Income ,508,610 1,274,746 98,774 2,955, , , ,182,199 1,511, ,569 3,801,650 1,029, , ,772,580 1,636, ,262 3,469,381 1,208, , ,935,988 1,721, ,688 3,963,063 1,218, , ,301,506 1,976, ,190 4,241,840 1,185, ,944 (*) Data reflected within all tables of this report has been compiled from the companyfiled statutory statement. BUSINESS PROFILE American Financial Group, Inc. headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a publicly traded holding company that, through its insurance subsidiaries, primarily markets property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses, in addition to sales of traditional fixed and fixed-indexed annuity products in the retail, financial institutions and education markets. The retail distribution channels is comprised of approximately 55 national marketing organizations (NMOs) and marketing general agents (MGAs) who, in turn, direct nearly 1,200 actively producing agents. AFG also sells single premium annuities in financial institutions, also known as bank channels, through direct and indirect relationships with certain banks and through independent brokers and agents. Education market annuities are written directly by agents instead of NMOs or MGAs. AFG has a stable and experienced management team with extensive years of experience in the industry. AFG issues its annuity products through the subsidiaries within Great American Financial Resources, Inc. (GAFRI). GAFRI operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of AFG. The company was formed in 1992 as the vehicle for AFG to participate in the annuity market and to expand into life and supplemental health lines of business. Through its subsidiaries, GAFRI operates in two segments: annuities, along Printed September 25, Page 2 of 7

3 Operating Results: GAFRI, the intermediate holding company of the companies in the Great American Group, continues to generate strong operating profitability, driven largely by its lead operating company, GALIC. Fixed annuities, sold via bank and retail distribution channels, continue to comprise the majority of GAFRI s statutory pre-tax operating earnings. The organization s strong pre-tax operating earnings are attributable to the continued growth in its fixed-indexed annuity premiums. Statutory earned premiums have had considerable growth in recent years due primarily to the addition of new banks, broker dealers and other financial institutions, as well as the addition of new products and product features. In addition, GAFRI has been able to maintain fairly consistent investment spreads by adjusting its crediting rates and commissions, when applicable, while keeping its expense structure relatively flat. A.M. Best notes that net income has also benefited from the group s net realized capital gains on its inwith the run-off life insurance products. Great American Group is the principal provider of premium and earnings within GAFRI. GAFRI is a top 10 provider of total annuity sales within the retail market place, and approximately 90% of GAFRI s inforce business has some level of surrender protection. The Great American Group is comprised of Great American Life Insurance Company (GALIC), which has been wholly or majority owned by AFG since 1973, and its subsidiary, Annuity Investors Life Insurance Company (AILIC), which has been a wholly owned subsidiary of GALIC since GALIC, which is licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia, primarily writes both qualified and non-qualified fixed and fixed-indexed annuity products. AILIC is licensed to sell annuity products in 48 states and the District of Columbia, marketing variable, fixed and fixed-indexed annuity products primarily within the 403(b) and 457 markets. Manhattan National Life Insurance Company is also owned by GALIC. The company is licensed in 49 states and the District of Columbia to write life, annuity and supplemental health insurance products. Scope of Operations: The Great American Group had traditionally concentrated its activities on the sale of tax-sheltered annuities (TSAs) to employees of qualified not-for-profit institutions under section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, primarily employees of primary and secondary schools (K-12). Flexible premium 403(b) products, which were once sold primarily through GALIC, are now sold mainly through AILIC. While flexible premiums continue to represent a portion of the group s in-force business, the majority of new annuity sales are derived from single premium products. Single premium sales continue to represent over 90% of new fixed annuity premium, with GALIC writing virtually all of it. Variable annuity products, which have been de-emphasized, are still being offered through AILIC. However, variable products make up less than 1% of the group s total statutory net premium. AILIC is the sole writer of variable annuity products as part of the annuity operations of AFG. Its products also include fixed and fixed-indexed annuities. These products are sold primarily to employees of educational institutions. Overall, the Great American Group is consistently a top five provider of fixed-indexed annuities in the United States and ranked number one in fixed-indexed annuity sales through banks in Initiated in 2006, the company s bank market products contributed approximately $2.4 billion in net premium for the Great American Group in The growth in annuity sales in recent years has been attributable to growth within the bank channel due to new product enhancements and banking relationships. Individual single premium indexed annuities sold via independent agents have also contributed to Great American Group s significant premium growth over the years. Territory: The company is licensed in the District of Columbia, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI and WY. Business Trends: Great American Life Group s direct premium grew by almost 7% in 2016 as compared to the prior year. Sales of single premium annuities, primarily single premium fixed-indexed annuities, continue to maintain steady growth due to the success of income annuity riders and greater penetration within some of its financial institution relationships. The group also has a run-off block of life insurance that contributes a modest amount of statutory premium. Despite the decrease in some of its blocks of business and distribution channels, Great American Life Group was still able to produce over $4.4 billion in statutory net premium for OPERATING PERFORMANCE Printed September 25, Page 3 of 7

4 vestment portfolio in recent years. GAFRI s individual life business continues to shrink due to the line of business being in run-off mode. Life business again comprised less than 1% of the company s 2016 pre-tax operating earnings and net premiums. A.M. Best expects to see this line of business continue to decline as GAFRI s life insurance policies decline. Great American Group, which contributes virtually all of GAFRI s statutory earnings, has reported statutory operating earnings in each of the past five years primarily due to the growth in its individual annuity products. The growth in operating earnings over the past several years is also attributable to favorable expense management and improved absolute investment income due to asset growth from the significant sales increase of its annuity products. Recent expense initiatives, improved market conditions and strong annuity persistency have also contributed to the growth in statutory operating earnings. Despite relatively flat net investment income in 2015 and a material net realized loss of over $47M, net income increased 4% in 2015 due to the strength of stronger premium revenue, but in 2016 there was a 3% decrease in net investment income along with another $34M in net realized losses. The decrease in net investment income was driven primarily by a decrease in option income related to options used to hedge FIA liabilities as well as lower investment yields on run-off of higher yielding investments. Premiums within Great American Group s bank channels were up significantly versus prior year, driven by its single premium indexed annuities mainly as a result of improved equity markets. Investment Results: Despite the ongoing low interest rate environment, net investment income within Great American Group s subsidiaries have been growing, but took a slight dip in 2016 attributable to the run-off of higher yielding investments and lower gains from option expirations, offset by the growth in invested assets related to new premium sales. Additionally, net yields continue to be favorable due to the performance of its mortgage-backed securities. A.M. Best notes that the interest-sensitive annuity liabilities expose the group to interest rate risk. However, the cash flow and disintermediation risks associated with GALIC s and AILIC s annuity business are somewhat mitigated by the relatively stable liability characteristics associated with tax-sheltered annuity liabilities, the two-tiered crediting structure of in-force business and surrender charges on its annuities. BALANCE SHEET STRENGTH Capitalization: Great American Group maintains a solid level of riskadjusted capital relative to its current ratings, as measured by Best s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The capital demands of the company s primary product line are mitigated somewhat by the surrender protection inherent in the long-term nature of its annuity liabilities. Although Great American Group, primarily GALIC, has historically made sizable stockholder dividend payments to GAFRI, consistent with its overall capital management strategy, the group s capital and surplus has improved each of the past six years. Despite the dividend payments, as well as material realized losses in its investment portfolio in prior years, Great American Group s capital and surplus has grown significantly to $2.2 billion. The group has been able to grow its capital and surplus during that time driven primarily by higher operating earnings. This increasing trend in capital and surplus has continued into 2016 with a 16.5% rise. The sizable increase in Great American Group s statutory net income, partially offset by $140 million in dividends in paid out during 2016, has enabled the group s risk-adjusted capitalization to increase considerably. A.M. Best notes that further improvement in its risk-adjusted capital will not only be dependent upon its future operating earnings and investment performance, but also upon the amount of dividends paid annually to GAFRI. Additionally, AFG and GAFRI have historically made contributions to the group to support business growth when needed and the overall adequacy of capital is reviewed monthly. Liquidity: Great American Group s liquidity position is acceptable for the medium-term nature of the majority of its liabilities. The group s investment portfolio exhibits favorable liquidity characteristics, given that the majority of its investment portfolio is made up of high quality, publicly traded bonds, in addition to maintaining a modest percentage of cash and short-term invested assets. Through AFG, GAFRI has the Printed September 25, Page 4 of 7

5 ability to access capital markets and the potential utilization of available lines of credit to provide the insurance subsidiaries with additional sources of cash flow if needed. Additionally, GALIC is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) which provides the company with another significant source of liquidity if needed. FHLB borrowings as of 12/31/16 were $935 million. Great American Life Group (AMB# ). Investments: GAFRI accounts for approximately three-quarters of AFG s total investment portfolio. Great American Group s investment portfolio consists primarily of investment grade, fixed income investments, which are mostly corporate fixed income securities, but also includes municipals, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and collateralized loan obligations (CLO s). In 2016, CMBS and RMBS represented approximately 14% of GAFRI s fixed maturity portfolio. The organization s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio is of high quality, which is evidenced by the fact that the vast majority are rated either NAIC 1 or 2. A.M. Best notes that GAFRI invests almost exclusively in senior tranches of MBS s that were AAA-rated at issuance. The organization s exposure to subprime and Alt-A securities is modest. This is a slight decline compared to prior years and was due to GAFRI investing more free cash flows into corporates, municipals and financial sector bonds in addition to a modest percentage of subprime RMBS falling off its books. Approximately, 98% of the Great American Group s bonds are publicly traded, including freely tradable under SEC Rule 144 and 144(a); 97% of these are rated either NAIC 1 or 2. These fixed income investments are generally securities with maturities between five and ten years, matching the duration of the group s liabilities. The remainder of Great American Group s investment portfolio is comprised of a nominal exposure to equities, policy loans, cash and short-term securities and direct real estate-related assets, with real estate and mortgage loans representing approximately 3.0% of the group s total invested assets. Consistent with the rest of the financial services industry, Great American Group s investment portfolio experienced sizable unrealized investment losses during the economic crisis. In 2016, the group maintained a material statutory net unrealized gain position on its fixed income portfolio of over $750 million. Despite improvements in its net unrealized gain/loss position, the Great American Group reported net realized statutory losses three of the past five years. The losses have been partially attributable to the sale of some of its unaffiliated common stock holdings. MANAGEMENT Officers: President and Chief Executive Officer, S. Craig Lindner; Executive Vice President, Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, Mark F. Muething; Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer, Christopher P. Miliano; Senior Vice President and General Counsel, John P. Gruber; Senior Vice President, Adrienne S. Kessling; Vice Presidents, Michael H. Haney, Brian P. Sponaugle; Appointed Actuary, Richard L. Sutton. Directors: Jeffrey G. Hester, S. Craig Lindner, Christopher P. Miliano, Mark F. Muething, Michael J. Prager. Printed September 25, Page 5 of 7

6 Balance Sheet Assets ($000) YE 2016 Total bonds $24,914,681 Total preferred stocks ,427 Total common stocks ,043 Mortgage loans ,164 Real estate ,885 Contract loans ,451 Cash & short-term invest ,320 Prems and consids due ,070 Accrued invest income ,030 Other assets ,703,436 Assets $29,301,506 Liabilities ($000) Net policy reserves $25,014,033 Policy claims ,467 Deposit type contracts ,341,691 Interest maint reserve ,284 Comm taxes expenses ,975 Asset val reserve ,190 Other liabilities ,457 Total Liabilities $27,325,097 Common stock ,513 Paid in & contrib surpl ,022 Unassigned surplus ,163,874 Total $29,301, in billions of dollars GREAT AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY Total Admitted Assets Years FINANCIAL SUMMARY ($000) as of YE 2016 Capital & Surplus $ 1,976,409 Net Premiums Written $ 4,241,840 Assets $ 29,301,506 Total Life Insurance Issued $ 1,448 Total Life Insurance In Force $ 11,260,404 Printed September 25, Page 6 of 7

7 Why is this Best s Rating Report important to you? The A.M. Best Company is the oldest, most experienced rating agency in the world and has been reporting on the financial condition of insurance companies since policy, contract or any other financial obligation issued by an insurer, nor does it address the suitability of any particular policy or contract for a specific purpose or purchaser. A Best s Financial Strength Rating (FSR) is an independent opinion of an insurer s financial strength and ability to meet its ongoing insurance policy and contract obligations. An FSR is not assigned to specific insurance policies or contracts and does not address any other risk, including, but not limited to, an insurer s claims-payment policies or procedures; the ability of the insurer to dispute or deny claims payment on grounds of misrepresentation or fraud; or any specific liability contractually borne by the policy or contract holder. An FSR is not a recommendation to purchase, hold or terminate any insurance The company information appearing in this pamphlet is an extract from the complete AMB Credit Report. You may obtain the complete report by contacting Customer Service at +1(908) or customer_service@ambest.com. Please reference the company s identification number (AMB#) listed on this rating report. For the latest Best s Financial Strength Ratings along with their definitions and A.M. Best s Terms of Use, please visit Copyright 2017 A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, distributed, or stored in a database or retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the A.M. Best Company. While the data in this report was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, its accuracy is not guaranteed. Printed September 25, Page 7 of 7