Moody’s rates W.R. Berkley notes Baa3 (hyb)

Moody's Investors Service said it assigned provisional ratings to the shelf registration of W.R. Berkley Corp.

In the same action, the agency assigned a Baa3 (hyb) rating (on review for upgrade) to roughly $175 million of 40-year subordinated notes, to be issued by W.R. Berkley off its multi-purpose shelf registration.

Net proceeds are expected to be used for general corporate purposes.

W.R. Berkley's ratings remain on review for upgrade.

Moody's said the ratings reflect the company's strong franchise within the commercial and specialty insurance segment, its diversified revenue streams, disciplined approach to underwriting, and its strong earnings and good risk-adjusted capitalization.

“Partially offsetting these positive factors are the company's exposure to long-tail casualty businesses, which have greater reserve and pricing risk, and risks associated with entering new lines of business where historical actuarial data is limited,” the agency said in a news release.

“The company also maintains somewhat elevated operating and financial leverage, which we view as tempering the groups' strong operational profile.”

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.