• This ratings agency confirmed its local rating for Suramericana and for Seguros Generales and Seguros de Vida, the SURA insurance subsidiaries in Colombia.
• Special mention was made of the solvency and liquidity indicators of all the rated companies.
• Similarly, SURA’s Life and P&C Insurance subsidiaries in Colombia continued to hold their BBB- ratings (investment grade) for their international debt.
• S&P’s Technical Committee also ratified its 'AAA' rating for Suramericana’s ordinary bonds worth COP 1 trillion, whose amortization began in June of this year.

On Tuesday, Suramericana received confirmation of Standard and Poor's (S&P) “AAA” rating for its long-term debt. It also confirmed its 'AAA' rating for Suramericana's local debt worth COP 1 trillion, issued in June 2016, whose first principal repayment took place in June for a total of COP 147.998 million.

S&P also confirmed its 'AAA' rating for Seguros SURA Colombia in terms of the financial strength provided on a local scale by its Life and P&C insurance companies, Seguros de Vida Suramericana S.A. and Seguros Generales Suramericana S.A.; with both maintaining their BBB, investment grade rating, on an international scale.

Suramericana maintains adequate solvency and liquidity indicators

The corresponding ratings analysis listed the different reasons that led to the confirmation of the debt rating issued to Suramericana, as an insurance holding company. "Suramericana provides various cross-cutting services to its insurance subsidiaries that further both their operating efficiencies and comprehensive risk management capabilities," stated the report.

Likewise, S&P made special mention of SURA’s on-line channels facilitating direct sales, well-diversified lines of investment, its Corporate Governance function complying with OECD standards and the good levels of performance obtained with its financial indicators such as profitability, solvency and liquidity, these compared to the average levels recorded for the insurance industry.

"This latest ratification of our 'AAA' rating only goes to confirm Suramericana’s financial strength, leveraged by the performance of its nine subsidiaries throughout Latin America. We continue to search for greater efficiencies thus allowing us to maintain a healthy level of indebtedness and adequate liquidity, which not only have been our guide for some time now but have become that much more relevant in the current situation," said Juan Fernando Uribe, Suramericana’s Chief Financial Officer.

Similarly, S&P also highlighted the fact that the Life Insurance subsidiary, Compañía de Seguros de Vida, in Colombia was recently spun off, thereby facilitating the first repayment of the bonds issued in 2016. This entailed a considerable increase in the volume of liquid assets for Suramericana, which was well classified in terms of financial flexibility.

The Suramericana companies in Colombia are consolidating their market position

As for the Life and P&C insurance subsidiaries belonging to Seguros SURA Colombia, S&P emphasized their local and international ratings as well as competitive market positions in both segments, their well-diversified streams of revenues, the sustainability of their premium production output, in spite of the currently prevailing conditions, together with adequate levels of reserve coverage.

"Maintaining the highest local rating and an international investment grade only goes to reaffirm our strength in a challenging environment. In order to continue to provide the best possible assistance to both private individuals and companies in Colombia, as well as guarantee the Company’s on-going sustainability, we shall continue to do all we can to reduce our risk exposure and preserve our solvency," stated Luis Guillermo Gutierrez, Chief Financial Officer of Seguros SURA Colombia.

S&P also made special mention of both companies (Life and Property & Casualty) maintaining their investment portfolios at conservative levels, with local fixed-income securities accounting for between 90% and 95% of the total; with the corresponding issuers boasting the highest levels of creditworthiness. "Its extensive track record and good brand positioning on a local level shall allow the Company to continue leading the Colombian market", concluded S&P.

Finally, the report highlighted the risk management structure of both subsidiaries (Life and Property & Casualty), this based on best market practices on an international level and in keeping with the Organization’s essence as a trend and risk manager; their internal control mechanisms spearheaded by their comptroller and auditing staff; as well as their robust technological infrastructure, characterized by its responsiveness and business continuity plan.

About Seguros SURA Colombia

With 75 years of experience, this specialized subsidiary of Suramericana S.A. offers an extensive portfolio of insurance solutions and services thereby providing sustainable well-being and greater competitiveness to more than 12 million different clients throughout the country, through its trend and risk management function. Its lines of business correspond to the Life and Property and Casualty insurance segments, both voluntary insurance (Seguros SURA) and mandatory insurance (EPS SURA (health care) and ARL SURA (Occupational Health and Safety). Its value proposition is complemented with other health care institute (IPS SURA) and diagnostic aids (Ayudas Diagnósticas SURA) services, as well as our advisory and technical assistance (Consultoría en Gestión de Riesgos). Seguros SURA is the country's leading insurance company, holding a 23.8% share of the market at the end of April 2020.

 About Suramericana:

With 75 years of experience, Suramericana S.A. is a specialized insurance and risk/trend management company. While being a subsidiary of Grupo SURA (which holds an 81.1% stake in its share capital), it also enjoys the backing of the German reinsurance firm, Munich Re (which holds the remaining 18.9% stake). The Company is a multi-solution, multi-channel and multi-segment platform operating in 9 Latin American countries, where it strives to deliver sustainable well-being and competitiveness to each of its 17.9 million clients, including private individuals and companies, which are attended by nearly 21 thousand employees and 24,000 advisory personnel. The Company is known as Seguros SURA in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and as Asesuisa in El Salvador. Suramericana is the eighth largest insurance company in the region, in terms of written premiums, and is the fourth largest of Latin American origin.