Top Rated Life Insurance Companies
Deciding who the top rated life insurance companies are is not an exact science. The are 5 main life insurance company rating agencies, 6 if you count KBRA (Kroll Bond Rating Agency). Each rating agency has a different rating scale with different ratings and a different number of potential ratings. For our List of Top Rated Life Insurance Companies we will rank the top life insurance companies by both AM Best Rating and Comdex Score.
6 Main Insurance Company Rating Agencies
Below are the fixe main rating agencies that assign insurance company ratings. When you look at an insurance company ratings chart you will see the financial rating assigned by one or all of these rating agencies. Most often, if an insurer only has a rating assigned from one agency it will be from A.M. Best.
#1. A.M. Best
The only global credit rating agency with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Best’s Credit Ratings, which are issued through A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc., are a recognized indicator of insurer financial strength and creditworthiness. You can search for an insurance company’s A.M. Best Rating on this page of the A.M. Best website.
#2.Standard & Poor’s:
In 28 countries around the world and a history that dates back more than 150 years, S&P Global Ratings provides high-quality market intelligence in the form of credit ratings, research, and thought leadership. S&P Global Ratings has rated over 1,000 insurers; you can search the complete list at standardandpoors.
#3. Moody’s
Moody’s is an essential component of the global capital markets, providing credit ratings, research, tools and analysis that contribute to transparent and integrated financial markets. Visit Moody’s to learn more about their insurance industry ratings and market research.
#4. Fitch Ratings
A Global Leader in financial information services with operations in 30 countries. Visit Fitch’s Insurance ratings page on their website to read comprehensive explanation of their ratings process by clicking here.
#5. Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA)
Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC and its affiliates (KBRA) are a global full-service rating agency with a mission to set a standard of excellence and integrity. Established in 2010, KBRA remains dedicated to the restoration of trust in credit ratings by creating new standards for assessing risk and by offering timely and transparent ratings. KBRA provides market participants with an alternative solution by delivering in-depth research across various sectors within the United States and European markets.
#6. Weiss Ratings
The Weiss Ratings are calculated based on a complex analysis of hundreds of factors that are synthesized into five indexes: capitalization, asset quality, profitability, liquidity and stability. Each index is then used to arrive at a letter grade rating.
Potential Life Insurance Company Ratings
We mentioned a moment ago deciding who was the top rated life insurance companies was not an exact science so I thought I’d provide an example as to why that is. Below is a table listing possible life insurance company ratings from all 6 of the recognized insurance company rating agencies.
You’ll Notice the third best rating could be an A, AA, Aa2,or and A-. We’ve been in the insurance business for almost two decades and this could definitely confuse the best of us. A.M. Best is the only global rating agency whose prime focus is on the insurance business which is why we are going to use their rating to rank our top rated companies. In addition they are the most commonly recognized and accepted rating. In fact, many small to mid-size life insurance companies only have one rating, an AM Best Rating.
Comdex Score
In order to take those reviews from A.M. Best, Moody’s, Fitch, Weiss and Standard & Poor’s and put them all on a level playing field, the Comdex Score was born.
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.’ Personally, we believe it is easiest and perhaps most accurate to rank the top rated life insurance companies by their Comdex Score rather than trying to select an individual rating agency.
Composite Index
Comdex stands for composite index; rightly so, as Comdex compiles the scores from the four major credit raters, presenting you with a composite score of all the evaluations a life insurance company has available. For this reason the Comdex Score should be considered when compiling a list of the top rated life insurance companies.
It then puts each company into one single, 100-point scale.
This method, in essence, creates a percentile in which to place each company.
The higher the percentile, the higher the company’s overall rankings from the other private rating companies.
Many insurance seekers find it far simpler to look at a score on a scale of 1-100 than to try to understand five different rating scales and their methodology. For instance, an A+ financial rating from A.M. Best is very different from a Standard & Poor’s A+ financial rating.
For this reason we are also going to include the Comdex score as when ranking the top rated life insurance companies.
18 Top Rated Life Insurance Companies Table
The table below lists the top rated life insurance companies along with their A.M. Best Rating and Comdex Score. There is an obvious correlation between the two; however, you can sort the table by either AM Best Rating or Comdex Score by clicking at the top of the corresponding column.
| Annuity Company | A.M. Best Rating | Comdex Score |
|---|---|---|
| New York Life Insurance | A++ | 100 |
| Mass Mutual | A++ | 98 |
| Allianz Life Insurance Company | A+ | 97 |
| Western & Southern | A+ | 96 |
| Columbus Life Insurance Company | A+ | 96 |
| Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company | A+ | 93 |
| Principal | A | 91 |
| Lincoln Financial Group | A+ | 90 |
| Nationwide | A+ | 90 |
| Mutual of Omaha | A+ | 90 |
| North American Company | A+ | 89 |
| Pacific Life | A+ | 89 |
| Midland National | A+ | 89 |
| Reliance Standard | A+ | 87 |
| The Standard | A | 85 |
| Jackson National | A | 84 |
| Symetra | A | 82 |
| Great American Life Insurance Company | A | 82 |
| AIG | A | 82 |
| American National Life Insurance Company | A | 79 |
| Athene Annuity and Life | A | 78 |
| Global Atlantic Financial Group | A | 75 |
| American Equity | A- | 60 |
| Fidelity & Guaranty Life | A- | 59 |
| Oxford Life | A- | |
| Sagicor Life | A- | |
| Atlantic Coast Life | B++ | |
| Equitrust | B++ | |
| Guaranty Income Life | B++ | |
| Guggenheim Life and Annuity | A- | |
| SILAC Life Insurance Company | B+ | |
| UpStream Life Insurance | B++ |
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 our Important Notice: Best’s Credit Ratings for a disclaimer notice and complete details at :http://www.ambest.com/ratings/notice. Data for Year-End 2019 from the life insurance companies’ statutory annual statements. All dollar amounts are in thousands.
All ratings shown are current as of June 15, 2020. Presented by: My Annuity Store, Inc. 10497 Balroyal Court, Fishers, IN 46037 Phone: 855-583-1104 Email: Info@myannuitystore.com
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