Micronesia-domiciled Marble Re assigned strong rating

Marble Re, a single parent captive of Japan’s Marubeni Corporation domiciled in Micronesia, has been assigned a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” by AM Best. The outlook assigned to both ratings is stable.

The ratings reflect Marble Re’s strong risk-adjusted capitalisation, stable operating profitability, strong retrocessional coverage and the support of its parent company, which is expected to infuse capital into Marble Re in early 2013, thereby increasing absolute capitalisation. Marble Re’s capitalisation has also been bolstered by strong profitability.

The new product portfolio generated by Marubeni Corporation’s group of companies, which reported a favourable track record in underwriting results, could support the operating profitability of the group's captive in the future. While AM Best considers any improvement in Marble Re’s ratings unlikely, the ratings agency does consider downward pressure plausible should there be a sharp decline in Marble Re's risk-adjusted capitalisation.