Understanding the Comdex Score Rating Scale

What is a Comdex Score (Rating)?

In this guide, I will introduce you to the Comdex Score which is a rating method that combines financial strength ratings from multiple rating agencies to generate a single numerical score for life insurance and annuity companies.

I’ll highlight the advantages and limitations of utilizing the Comdex score when conducting your due diligence in selecting an insurance company.

Company Name	Comdex Ranking
1 Northwestern Mutual Life Ins	100
2 New York Life Ins Co	100
3 New York Life Ins & Ann	100
4 Thrivent Finl for Lutherans	100
5 Berkshire Hathaway Life of NE	100
6 Life Ins Co of North America	100
7 Berkshire Life Ins Co of Amer	100
8 New York Life Group Ins Co NY	100
9 Northwestern Long Term Care	100
10 Teachers Ins & Ann Assn	99
11 Guardian Life Ins Co of Amer	99
12 USAA Life Ins Co	99
13 Guardian Ins & Ann Co	99
14 General Re Life Corporation	99
15 USAA Life Ins Co of NY	99
16 Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins	98
17 State Farm Life Ins Co	98
18 Knights of Columbus	98
19 C.M. Life Ins Co	98
20 MML Bay State Life Ins Co	98
21 State Farm Life & Acc Assur Co	98
22 TIAA-CREF Life Ins Co	97
23 Sun Life Assur	96
24 Allianz Life Ins Co of NA	96
25 Empower Ann Ins Co	96
26 Empower Ann Ins Co of Amer	96
27 Minnesota Life Ins Co	96
28 Western-Southern Life Assur Co	96
29 Western & Southern Life Ins Co	96
30 Integrity Life Ins Co	96
31 Empower Life & Ann of NY	96
32 Lafayette Life Ins Co	96
33 National Integrity Life Ins Co	96
34 Allianz Life Ins of New York	96
35 Columbus Life Ins Co	96
36 Securian Life Ins Co	96
37 Sun Life & Health Ins Co US	96
38 Metropolitan Life Ins Co	95
39 Prudential Ins Co of America	95
40 Pacific Life Ins Co	95
41 Pruco Life Ins Co	95
42 Metropolitan Tower Life Ins Co	95
43 American United Life Ins Co	95
44 Hannover Life Reassur Amer	95
45 Swiss Re Life & Health America	95
46 State Life Ins Co	95
47 Munich American Reassur Co	95
48 Pacific Life & Ann Co	95
49 MassMutual Ascend Life Ins Co	94
50 Pruco Life Ins Co of NJ	94
51 Banner Life Ins Co	94
52 Protective Life & Ann Ins	94
53 William Penn Life Ins Co of NY	94
54 John Hancock Life Ins Co (USA)	93
55 Protective Life Ins Co	93
56 Penn Mutual Life Ins Co	93
57 UnitedHealthcare Ins Co	93
58 John Hancock Life & Health Ins	93
59 John Hancock Life Ins Co of NY	93
60 Amer Fam Life Assur Columbus	93
61 Penn Ins & Ann Co	93
62 West Coast Life Ins Co	93
63 Ann Investors Life Ins Co	93
64 Primerica Life Ins Co	93
65 HCC Life Ins Co	93
66 First Reliance Standard Life	93
67 Principal Life Ins Co	91
68 RGA Reins Co	91
69 Fidelity Investments Life Ins	91
70 Reliance Standard Life Ins Co	91
71 American Life Ins Co	91
72 MONY Life Ins Co	91
73 Empire Fidelity Investments Life	91
74 Companion Life Ins Co	91
75 Dearborn Life Ins Co	91
76 Amer Fam Life Assur Co of NY	91
77 Principal National Life Ins Co	91
78 Vantis Life Ins Co	91
79 Penn Ins & Ann Co of NY	91
80 United World Life Ins Co	91
81 Dearborn Natl Life Ins of NY	91
82 Nationwide Life Ins Co	90
83 RiverSource Life Ins Co	90
84 Nationwide Life & Ann Ins	90
85 United of Omaha Life Ins Co	90
86 Life Ins Co of the Southwest	90
87 Hartford Life & Acc Ins	90
88 National Life Ins Co	90
89 Mutual of Omaha Ins Co	90
90 RiverSource Life Ins Co of NY	90
91 PartnerRe Life Re Co of Amer	90
92 Midland National Life Ins Co	89
93 North American Co for L&H Ins	89
94 Cincinnati Life Ins Co	89
95 Wilton Reassur Co	87
96 Wilton Reassur Life of NY	87
97 Wilcac Life Ins Co	87
98 Texas Life Ins Co	87
99 Zurich American Life Ins Co	86
100 Liberty National Life Ins Co	84
101 Globe Life And Acc Ins Co	83
102 American Income Life Ins Co	83
103 United American Ins Co	83
104 Equitable Finl Life Ins Co	82
105 Transamerica Life Ins Co	82
106 Athene Ann & Life Co	82
107 Athene Ann & Life Assur Co	82
108 Standard Ins Co	82
109 Transamerica Finl Life Ins Co	82
110 Equitable Finl Life of America	82
111 Athene Ann & Life Assur NY	82
112 Voya Retirement Ins & Ann Co	81
113 Everlake Life Ins Co	81
114 Modern Woodmen of America	81
115 Lincoln National Life Ins Co	80
116 American General Life Ins Co	80
117 Variable Ann Life Ins Co	80
118 United States Life Ins in NY	80
119 Lincoln Life & Ann Co NY	80
120 SCOR Global Life Americas Re	80
121 Symetra Life Ins Co	79
122 CMFG Life Ins Co	79
123 Ameritas Life Ins Corp.	79
124 Brighthouse Life Ins Co of NY	79
125 American Memorial Life Ins Co	79
126 Ameritas Life Ins Corp. of NY	79
127 SCOR Global Life USA Re Co	79
128 MEMBERS Life Ins Co	79
129 SCOR Global Life Re Co of DE	79
130 Connecticut General Life Ins	78
131 ReliaStar Life Ins Co	78
132 ReliaStar Life Ins Co of NY	78
133 AGC Life Ins Co	77
134 American Family Life Ins Co	77
135 Cigna Worldwide Ins Co	77
136 Brighthouse Life Ins Co	76
137 Cigna Health & Life Ins Co	76
138 Horace Mann Life Ins Co	76
139 New England Life Ins Co	76
140 First Penn-Pacific Life Ins Co	76
141 Amer Bankers Life Assur Co FL	76
142 Commonwealth Ann & Life	75
143 Forethought Life Ins Co	75
144 American National Ins Co	75
145 Accordia Life & Ann Co	75
146 First Allmerica Financial Life	75
147 Pan-American Life Ins Co	75
148 Amer Natl Life Ins Co of NY	75
149 Provident Life & Casualty	75
150 Blue Shield of CA Life & Hlth	75
151 Pan-American Assur Co	75
152 Jackson National Life Ins Co	74
153 Unum Life Ins Co of Amer	74
154 Jackson Natl Life Ins Co of NY	74
155 Provident Life & Acc	74
156 First Unum Life Ins Co	74
157 First Symetra Nat Life Ins NY	74
158 Colonial Life & Acc Ins	74
159 Pacific Guardian Life Ins Co	74
160 Paul Revere Life Ins Co	74
161 Humana Ins Co of Kentucky	74
162 Aetna Life Ins Co	73
163 Mutual of America Life Ins Co	73
164 Bankers Life & Casualty Co	73
165 Washington National Ins Co	73
166 Colonial Penn Life Ins Co	73
167 Bankers Conseco Life Ins Co	73
168 Unum Ins Co	73
169 Fidelity & Guar Life Ins Co	71
170 National Western Life Ins Co	71
171 Savings Bank Mutual Life of MA	71
172 Fidelity & Guar Life Ins of NY	71
173 USAble Life	71
174 Americo Finl Life & Ann	70
175 AuguStar Life Insurance Compan	69
176 AuguStar Life Assurance Corpora	69
177 Health Net Life Ins Co	69
178 Security Life of Denver Ins Co	68
179 Fortitude Life Ins & Ann	68
180 United Ins Co of America	60
181 United Life Ins Co	59
182 Guaranty Income Life Ins Co	59
183 Talcott Resolution Life Ins Co	57
184 Talcott Resolution L&A Ins Co	57
185 Amer Equity Invest Life Ins Co	56
186 Security Benefit Life Ins Co	56
187 S.USA Life Ins Co	56
188 Eagle Life Ins Co	56
189 SBLI USA Life Ins Co	56
190 GCU	56
191 Shenandoah Life Ins Co	56
192 Gleaner Life Ins Society	56
193 Aspida Life Ins Co	56
194 United Heritage Life Ins Co	56
195 First Security Benefit L&A NY	56
196 Life of the South Ins Co	56
197 Reliable Life Ins Co	56
198 Union National Life Ins Co	56
199 Bankers Life Ins Co of LA	56
200 Southern Financial Life Ins Co	56
201 Delaware Life Ins Co	55
202 Union Security Ins Co	52
203 EquiTrust Life Ins Co	50
204 ShelterPoint Life Ins Co	49
205 Natl Security Life & Ann	49
206 Amer Equity Invest Life of NY	49
207 Lincoln Benefit Life Co	48
208 Baltimore Life Ins Co	48
209 Catholic Order of Foresters	48
210 CL Life & Ann Ins Co	48
211 Investors Heritage Life Ins Co	39
212 ELCO Mutual Life & Ann	39
213 SILAC Ins Co	35
214 Genworth Life Ins Co	32
215 Genworth Life & Ann Ins	32
216 Genworth Life Ins Co of NY	32

A Best’ s Financial Strength Rating opinion addresses the relative ability of an insurer to meet its ongoing insurance obligations. It is not a warranty of a company’s financial strength and ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

View an Important Notice: Best’s Credit Ratings for a disclaimer notice and complete details at: https://web.ambest.com/ratings-services. All ratings shown are current as of May 15, 2024. Powered by VitalSales Suite, a product of Zinnia Distributor Solutions LLC.

Key Takeaways:

A Comdex Score combines all of an insurance company’s ratings into a single numerical score making it easier to compare insurance companies financial strength.
A Comdex Score of 85 means an insurance company is ranked higher than 84% of all insurance companies; or you could say, lower than 15% of all rated companies.

The Comdex Rating Scale

The Comdex is not a rating from an individual rating agency but a composite of all the ratings an insurance company has received from the five main insurance company rating agencies.

There are five main insurance company rating agencies whose Insurance Company Ratings are widely accepted:

The Comdex score was created to take those ratings from A.M. Best, Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s and place them all on a level playing field. The idea here is to take a sort of ‘average’ number, then find out where the carrier ranks among the others based on that ‘average.’

In order to be assigned a Comdex Score, an insurance company must have a rating assigned by at least two of the five main rating agencies listed above.

A Composite Index Rating Scale

The Comdex Rating then puts each company into a single, 100-point scale. This method creates a percentile in which to place each company.

The higher the percentile, the higher the company’s overall rankings among the other private rating companies.

Many individuals shopping for an insurance product find it much easier to look at a score on a scale of 1-100 than to try to understand four different rating scales and their methodology.

Below is a sample insurance company financial chart that shows different ratings available from each of the five main rating agencies, and once lesser-known agencies (KBRA).

The Comdex Score takes all of these into account when creating a single Comdex Score from 1 to 100.

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The Comdex Score: Rating Insurers on a 100-Point Scale

The 100-point scale puts the credit rating scores in context as it allows you to see how a company compares to its competitors based on what percentile it falls into.

For Example, a Comdex Score of 85 means the insurer is in the top 15th percentile. Or another way of putting it – rated superior to 84 percent of insurance companies.

To be assigned a number, the Comdex Score first takes a complete count of all rated companies.

Next, each individual rating agency’s full list of carriers is counted and divided by how many carriers were in each category.

For example, if A.M. Best rated 100 carriers and only five were able to obtain the top rate, those five would be in the 100^th percentile. If another 20 got the second-highest score, they would be in the next percentile, and so on.

How is the Comdex Rating Calculated?

After the four agencies have their lists compiled, sorted, and calculated for carriers’ scores, the scores are then tallied up and averaged for the carriers.

He is a specific example:

Let’s say XYZ insurance company was in the 90^th percentile for A.M. Best, the 85^th percentile for Fitch and the 80^th percentile for Moody’s, the average of the three would be a Comdex score of 85 (90+85+80=255, 255/3=85).

While, once again, this cannot be the only number you can rely on, it does help to find what percentile a company is in with a somewhat fair amount of data.

Rather than trying to compile all the life insurance providers on your radar, comparing their scores across rating companies, then seeing how they stand up against their competitors, you can simply check the percentile in which each company falls.

Understanding Financial Profiles

EbixExchange

The Comdex score is only available in VitalSigns, a product of EbixExchange. If you’d like to review more company-specific information for Ebix, they are listed on the NASDAQ Global Market (ticker symbol – EBIX).

Ebix provides a complete suite of services with seamless data flow to insurance channels around the world. They have a long history of designing innovative solutions that have earmarked an era of excellence in the history of Ebix.

Committed to its endeavor to answer the ever-increasing needs of Insurance organizations all over the world; Ebix is a leading international supplier of on-demand infrastructure exchanges to the insurance, financial, and healthcare industries.

In the Insurance sector, the Company’s main focus is to develop and deploy a wide variety of insurance and reinsurance exchanges on an on-demand basis.

VitalSigns

VitalSigns provides carrier financials and ratings for a little over 500 insurance companies. VitalSigns quickly and reliably qualifies a carrier’s financial strength in a variety of easy-to-understand reports.

Reliable Data – VitalSigns uses yearly financials reported to the NAIC and ratings from the 5 leading rating services with a Comdex ranking to help interpret the ratings.

Time-Savings Features – VitalSigns aggregates all the ratings and financial data and creates a report showing a carrier’s financial strength. In addition, financial charts and tables provide a more in-depth look into the overall health of each insurance company.

You’ll find total assets & liabilities, invested asset distribution, non-performing assets, 5-year investment returns, and bond quality in addition to financial ratings from each of the major agencies.

Insurance companies are required to report annual statements to the government. This data is used to monitor the financial health of insurers and protect the interests of consumers.

VitalSigns provides this data, for 500 companies. These statements, filed in March, contain data for the previous year. VitalSigns releases new financials each spring.

Using these yearly financials reported to the NAIC and ratings from the five leading rating agencies, VitalSigns establishes a Comdex Score (or ranking) to help you interpret the ratings.

VitalSigns includes explanations for each rating and a chart that compares the ratings by each service.

An AM Best A+ is quite different from a Standard & Poor’s A+.

Comdex – Our exclusive composite index, Comdex, gives you a quick summary of a carrier’s ratings and shows you how they stack up.

Numerical Equivalent – A number in parenthesis next to each rating quickly tells you where that rating fits on the scale for that rating service. A+ (2) tells you this is the second-best rating for AM Best.

Rating Chart – A rating chart compares the ratings for each rating service, so you can quickly compare.