Moody’s Announces Rating Actions on Insurance Firms

Moody’s Investors Service just announced rating actions on a number of mortgage insurance firms because of continued U.S. mortgage market stress as well as considerable uncertainty regarding the amount of mortgage insurance claims that could happen in the next several years. According to a release from Moody’s, the following rating actions have been taken. The ‘Aa2’ insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings of the mortgage insurance subsidiaries of The PMI Group and the ‘Aa3’ IFS rating of Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp. were put on review for possible downgrade. The ‘Aa2’ IFS ratings of the mortgage insurance subsidiaries of Genworth Financial and the ‘Aa3′ IFS rating of Republic Mortgage Insurance Company were affirmed, although these companies’ rating outlooks were changed to negative. The ‘Aa2’ IFS ratings of the mortgage insurance subsidiaries of United Guaranty Corp., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group, were affirmed with a stable outlook, Moody’s said. At the same time, Moody’s put the ‘Prime-1’ commercial paper rating of MGIC Investment Corp. on review for possible downgrade, the release said. The ‘Aa2’ IFS ratings on the main mortgage insurance subsidiaries of MGIC Investment Corp. and the ‘Aa3’ IFS mortgage subsidiary ratings of Radian Group are still on review for possible downgrade, the rating agency announced.