Experts suggest sticking with companies with financial strength ratings of A or better from rating agencies.
A.I.G. fell $1.73, or 5.1percentto to $32.28, after A. M. Best Company, which specializes in rating insurance companies, downgraded its financial strength ratings on the company.
Because the life insurance company we used for this analysis has the highest financial strength ratings, our comparison was made with top rated tax-free bond yields.
S&P cut the counterparty rating on Berkshire to "AA" from "AA+," but the agency left Berkshire's insurance units' financial strength ratings intact at "AA+." "The lower credit rating on BRK better reflects our view of BRK's dependence on its core insurance operations for most of its dividend income," said Standard & Poor's analyst John Iten.
After the close MBIA requested that Fitch Ratings withdraw its insurer financial strength ratings on MBIA Insurance, but asked it to continue to rate its outstanding debt obligations.
On Friday the ratings agency said it still stands behind American International Group s AA counter-party credit rating and AA+ counter-party credit and financial strength ratings on the companys core operating subsidies even after the worlds largest insurer posted the largest quarterly loss in company history.
The bond insurers have been hit hard in recent weeks, as MBIA and chief competitor Ambac Financial Group, among others, have been in danger of downgrades to their key AAA financial strength ratings at Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investor Services Ambac has already seen its rating dropped to AA at Fitch Ratings.
When IIHS released its first roof crush results in March 2009, only one-third of the SUVs tested had roofs that earned a "good" rating; these days, the majority of SUVs earn top roof strength ratings.
But Moody's cautioned that the banks' dismal financial strength ratings, which range from E to D-, were not being changed.
Fitch Ratings responded by putting the company's property and casualty subsidiaries on a negative watch for their financial strength ratings.
Financial strength ratings are indicators of an insurer's ability to pay claims, and are separate from credit ratings.
