Mikir Shah, chief executive officer, commented,“This upgrade recognises the strength of our underwriting, our growing relevance in developing markets, and the strong capital foundation supporting the next stage of our expansion.As we broaden our reach across new developing markets, our focus remains on disciplined underwriting and responsible capital management. This is strengthened by our new lead investor, Vitruvian Partners, who will support our strategy to fulfil unmet insurance needs in developing markets.”
London: Africa Specialty Risks (ASR, the developing markets-focused (re)insurance group, announced that Moody’s Ratings has upgraded ASR Re Limited’s Insurance Financial Strength Rating (“IFSR”) to ‘A3’ from ‘Baa1’. The outlook for this rating is Stable.
Mikir Shah, chief executive officer, commented,“This upgrade recognises the strength of our underwriting, our growing relevance in developing markets, and the strong capital foundation supporting the next stage of our expansion.As we broaden our reach across new developing markets, our focus remains on disciplined underwriting and responsible capital management. This is strengthened by our new lead investor, Vitruvian Partners, who will support our strategy to fulfil unmet insurance needs in developing markets.”
Caroline Hilton, Chief Strategy Officer, said,“Following on from our A- rating from Fitch last month, this upgrade by Moody’s recognises the strength of the platform we have built, combining local expertise with access to high-quality global capital. ASR is now the second largest African-focused reinsurer, and I look forward to the continued expansion of our unique platform into Asia, Latin America and other developing markets as part of our Vision 2030 plan.”
Moody’s highlighted several key strengths supporting the upgrade, including:
-Growing market relevance: Moody’s recognised ASR Re’s increasing relevance and market position in Africa’s corporate and specialty insurance market.
-Improved diversification: ASR Re’s expansion into new developing markets is broadening its business mix and geographic reach.
-Strong underwriting performance: Moody’s highlighted ASR Re’s consistently strong underwriting profitability as a key support for the rating.
-High-quality partners: The rating is supported by the broad pool of high-quality partners on ASR’s binder panel, including its own Lloyd’s syndicate.
-Strengthened capital adequacy: The agreed investment by Vitruvian Partners, ASR’s new lead investor, enhances ASR Re’s capacity to support continued growth while maintaining a strong financial profile and disciplined risk management.
Good asset quality and flexibility: The assessment also reflects ASR Re’s good asset quality and financial and operating flexibility.
The Stable outlook reflects Moody’s expectation that ASR Re will maintain strong underwriting performance, strong capitalisation and good asset quality while continuing to expand its franchise and geographic footprint in a disciplined manner.