Centriq’s Global Credit Rating upgraded

Gareth Beaver, CEO of Centriq Insurance.

Gareth Beaver, CEO of Centriq Insurance said today that Global Credit Ratings upgraded the company’s national scale claims paying ability to AA- (ZA) with the outlook accorded as stable. Prior to this, Centriq maintained an A+ rating for six consecutive years.

Centriq’s strong standalone credit profile as well as the risk management oversight support and financial flexibility parent company Santam provides (by means of a draw down facility) all played a role in the upgrading of Centriq’s rating this year.

Notable improvement and other continued strengths Centriq demonstrates also include:

- stringent management of individual cell solvency levels;

- entrenchment of group enterprise risk management policies in company management and reporting functions;

- maintenance of a low-risk balance risk;

- a conservative investment policy;

“Centriq continues to hold a material share of the cell captive market and the specialist nature of their business model is relatively difficult to replicate from start-up,” Global Credit Rating Co said in their report.

Centriq’s underwriting margins furthermore compare favourably with key competitors and the average as achieved by typical insurers. Net profitability is supported by a large portion of fee based earnings as well as a significantly lower exposure to the underwriting cycle across the more competitive market segments. This underpins a positive outlook for the insurer in the short to medium term.

“I am extremely pleased that our vision to be the leading UMA business partner, Risk Finance and Alternative Risk Transfer Specialist and Brand Affinity Insurance Solutions partner is taking shape. The upgrade in our GCR rating is evidence of the successful partnerships we continue to develop with all our stakeholders,” concludes Beaver.