Zurich’s rating outlook improves

A.M. Best Co. Inc. affirmed the A+ financial strength rating of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd.’s main nonlife insurance subsidiaries and revised its outlook to stable from negative.

Oldwick, New Jersey-based Best also affirmed Zurich’s A+  long-term issuer credit rating, the rating agency said in a statement Friday.

Best said the revised outlook reflects “strong corrective actions management has taken on the group’s property/casualty” operations, and its expectation that the actions will lead to sustained improvement in Zurich’s property/casualty profitability ratios.

Best noted that Zurich has a high expense ratio, compared with its competitors, but that it has “implemented an expense savings initiative, which is expected to benefit the group’s (property/casualty) expense ratio over the next few years.”

The negative outlook was assigned in October 2015. In a 2016 review, Best said Zurich’s general insurance segment’s weak technical performance remained a negative rating factor.