Guardian Life & Annuity Gets Rating Upgrade

In times where many life insurers are in danger of getting ratings downgrades, Guardian Life just got an upgrade from A.M. Best.

"A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) to A++ (Superior) from A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to "aa+" from "aa" of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) (New York, NY) and its core subsidiaries, The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. and Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America. A.M. "

This is good news for anyone needing more confidence before investing in annuity products.

While Guardian is not one of the biggest players in the variable annuity market space, they appear to be better capitalized than a number of their competitors. This could certainly help to drive sales if they chose to push annuities going forward as company ratings are at the forefront of investors minds these days.

Guardian currently offers two base Variable Annuity contracts and a number of guarantee riders including a Guaranteed Lifetime Withdrawal Benefit (GLWB) and a Guaranteed Minimum Income Benefit (GMIB).

Guardian can thank their diversified product offerings as well as a strong enterprise risk management platform which has allowed them to to reduce their risk and stay well capitalized during these difficult times.

source