Fitch Ratings ranks Resolution Life Australasia's (RLA) company profile as 'Moderate', compared with other insurers in Australia, reflecting its larger operating scale and strategy of managing run-off businesses.
The global credit rating agency says this in a peer review of several life insurers in Australia and New Zealand. The insurers include RLA, ClearView Life Assurance, ClearView Wealth, First Insurance (FIL), and Southsure Assurance (SAL).
Fitch also says that ClearView’s ‘Moderate’ company profile ranking reflects ongoing product improvements, better market positioning in the retail life insurance segment as well as recent business simplification and focus on the group's core life insurance business.
The company profiles of SAL and FIL are ranked ‘Less Favourable’ and ‘Least Favourable’, respectively, compared with other insurers in New Zealand, reflecting their smaller operating scale and high susceptibility to regulatory intervention.
SAL and FIL rely on their bank and credit union parents, respectively, to distribute products. FIL’s gross premium base – the smallest in this peer group - has continued to shrink in recent years, undermining the insurer’s profitability