(Finance) – Fitch Ratings assigned to the Italian insurer Unipol Insurance (previously Unipol Gruppo) a Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating of “A-” (Strong)upgraded its senior bond rating from “BBB” to “BBB+” and removed the debt from Rating Watch Positive. At the same time, Fitch affirmed the Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of Unipol to “BBB+”. All outlooks are positive.
Rating actions follow the completion of the merger by incorporation of the group’s main operating company, UnipolSai Assicurazioni, into the financial holding company, Unipol Gruppo, which was subsequently renamed Unipol.
Unipol’s senior debt upgrade reflects the strongest recovery assumptions for operating companies. Unipol’s IFS rating reflects the high, albeit declining, concentration of investments of the group in Italian sovereign debt, its leadership position in the Italian non-life insurance sector and its very strong capitalisation.