A.M. Best Assigns Ratings to
CompWest Insurance Company and Accident Fund Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OLDWICK, N.J., FEBRUARY 04,
2008 A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength
rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and an issuer credit
rating of "a" to CompWest Insurance Company (San
Francisco, CA). The outlook assigned to these ratings is
stable.
A.M. Best also has assigned ICRs of "a" and affirmed the
FSR of A (Excellent) of Accident Fund Group
(Accident Fund) (Lansing, MI) and its members, which
include Accident Fund Insurance Company of America
(AFICA) and its subsidiaries, Accident Fund General
Insurance Company (Lansing, MI), Accident Fund
National Insurance Company (Lansing, MI) and
United Wisconsin Insurance Company (New Berlin, WI).
The outlook for these ratings is stable. CompWest
Insurance Company writes workers' compensation in
California and operates through an intercompany
reinsurance agreement with AFICA.
The ratings
reflect the consolidated group's solid, although
variable, earnings performance, achieved as the market
leader within the Michigan workers' compensation
marketplace, its supportive capital position and
initiatives to strategically diversify premium volume
into additional states.
Partially offsetting these positive rating factors are
the emergence of adverse reserve development in most
recent accident years, growth in both premiums and
reserves during this time related to diversification
initiatives outside of Michigan, the execution risk
associated with new states and the time required to
determine the true profitability of this business.
Despite these concerns, the outlook reflects Accident
Fund's solid capitalization and expectations for
continued strong operating performance over the near
term.
On August 31, 2007, A.M. Best assigned an ICR of "a-"
and affirmed the FSR of A- (Excellent) of Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Michigan (Detroit, MI), the parent
company of Accident Fund. The outlook for both ratings
is stable.
For Best's Ratings, an overview of the rating process
and rating methodologies, please visit
Best's Rating Center.
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global
full-service credit rating organization dedicated to
serving the financial and health care service
industries, including insurance companies, banks,
hospitals and health care system providers.
View a list of companies related to this press
release. The list will include Best's Ratings along with
links to additional company specific information
including related news and reports.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, June 26, 2006 -- CWI Holdings, Inc., the parent organization of CompWest Insurance Company today announced the issuance of $20,000,000 of trust preferred securities in a private placement by CWI Holdings 2006 Statutory Trust I, a Delaware statutory trust that is wholly-owned by the Company and was formed for this purpose.
The trust preferred securities have a maturity of 30 years and are redeemable after five years without pre-payment penalty. CWI Holdings, Inc. intends to use the net proceeds from the offering primarily to support the growth of its insurance subsidiary, CompWest Insurance Company, and for other general corporate purposes. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, Inc. and FTN Financial Capital Markets acted as the placement agents for the offering.
Established in September 2004, CompWest Insurance Company is a leading provider and innovator of workers’ compensation insurance, protecting more than 1,200 businesses throughout California.
CompWest Insurance Company was founded to respond to California’s post-reform workers’ compensation environment. The company is dedicated to delivering coverage and service under its proprietary strategy called Workers’ Compensation with CareSM, according to Bill Mudge, CEO and President, CompWest Insurance Company.
“We believe that caring for injured workers is the right thing to do, and it is smart business to achieve lower claims costs by speeding recovery and return to work,” Mudge added. “CompWest teams up with our customers to focus on the key drivers affecting their workers’ comp costs, namely a commitment to loss prevention, rapid reporting of injuries, personal and caring interaction and a keep at work philosophy.”
The trust preferred securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an applicable exemption there from. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any securities in any jurisdiction where such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About CompWest Insurance: CompWest Insurance Company specializes in providing workers’ compensation insurance and services to mid-size companies through its select network of insurance broker partners in the West. To learn more about CompWest, go to www.compwestinsurance.com
California’s Best Businesses are Joining CompWest for Lower Workers’ Compensation Premiums and Better Care for their Employees
San Francisco, CA, November 28, 2005. More than 700 California employers have joined forces with CompWest Insurance Company this year to gain premium and cost savings from the recent workers’ compensation reforms and to provide better care for their injured employees.
“The best employers in the State know that their premium for workers’ compensation insurance can be a manageable cost of doing business, but not without the right strategy and the right team”, noted Bill Mudge, CompWest’s Co-founder, President and CEO. CompWest Insurance Company was formed to serve the needs of mid-size businesses that need such a strategy and team. “We are the only workers’ compensation insurance company in California that was created completely for the post-reform era. The old pre-reform strategy of ‘fighting’ with all parties to gain some amount of advantage is not a winning approach today. ‘Caring’ for injured workers is at the heart of the post-reform era; where building rapport and teaming to reduce costs and shorten the duration of injuries is the key to long-term premium savings”, reported Mudge.
CompWest customers are achieving real savings, in premiums and loss costs. Premium reductions in 2005 are in excess of 30%, and the Company’s loss results are showing much lower than industry levels for frequency and severity of claims and a significantly lower than industry litigation rate. “We are seeing the benefits of the reforms and our strategies, and we are pro-actively sharing those savings with our policyholders”, said Mudge.
“We built CompWest to provide a strategy of ‘care’ through our ground-breaking model called Workers’ Compensation with CareSM, said Ron Field, CompWest’s Chief Medical and Disability Officer. “Many employers do care about their employees, but what was missing is a workers’ compensation insurer who cared about the employees too. Our customers tell us that we are what they have been hoping for – a caring partner who operates in an open and straight-forward manner to help their injured workers while also achieving sustainable reductions in loss costs. Reduced loss costs are the key to lower experience mods and greater premium savings.”
“When a workers’ compensation injury occurs, we know whose money is at stake – our policyholder’s and ours”, commented Steve Pogue, CFO and CompWest Co-founder. “Unlike other insurance models that use a variety of vendors to underwrite risks and manage claims, we bring our people and our strategies to manage the risks and costs of occupational injuries. Our objectives are in alignment with our policyholders; when we team to reduce losses we both win together.” Some insurance company business models are win/lose, but not CompWest’s. Every senior executive at CompWest is an owner of the Company. They have their own money at risk in the same way every policyholder has its premiums on the line. When choosing a workers’ compensation insurance company, be sure to know who you are really doing business with and evaluate whether their approach aligns with your best interests.
Winning is about executing the right strategy with the right team at the right time. “An important element in CompWest’s strategy is teaming with select independent insurance brokers across the State who are focused on helping their clients build sustainable advantage”, said Ken Van Laar, CompWest’s Chief Underwriting Officer. “Brokers who merely seek a spot price without providing strong advocacy and service value are not helping their clients achieve long-term savings from the reforms. We are picky about who represents CompWest as a part of our team, and businesses should be equally picky in choosing their broker and insurance company.”
CompWest is a licensed and admitted workers’ compensation insurance company in California and is backed by a $1 billion private equity fund and the world’s largest reinsurer. CompWest focuses on industries such as light manufacturing, retail/wholesale stores, services, auto dealers, restaurants, hotels, country clubs, wineries and commercial financial institutions. For more information, go to www.compwestinsurance.com, or contact one of its appointed brokers.
Over 500 California employers now benefit from CompWest and its Workers’ Compensation with CareSM; premium rates are down by 30% since January 1, 2005
San Francisco, CA, September 15, 2005. CompWest Insurance Company and its unique approach called Workers’ Compensation with CareSM insures more than 500 businesses across California, with total annual in-force premiums approaching $50 million.
CompWest recently filed for an additional premium rate reduction of -8.2%, effective for new and renewal business on October 1, 2005, bringing total reductions of -30% since January 1, 2005.
“In addition to positive results from the recent workers’ compensation system reforms, our policyholders are seeing further reductions in their loss experience through CompWest’s unique approach called Workers’ Compensation with CareSM”, said Bill Mudge, CompWest’s Co-founder, President and CEO. “We put our senior staff at the front lines of the business with a caring interaction for the needs of injured workers. Rather than take an adversarial approach toward injured workers, as much of the industry has historically done, our caring way of doing business means fewer unnecessary disputes and faster employee return to work; which directly leads to lower future premium costs for policyholders that care about their employees.”
“Our loss results to date are much lower than industry levels in the frequency and severity of claims, as well as a significantly lower than industry litigation rate”, reports Ron Field, Chief Medical and Disability Officer. “CompWest’s strategies, around Rapid Reporting of injuries, Building Rapport with injured workers and Keep at Work programs, all part of Workers’ Compensation with CareSM, are lowering the cost of claims and the incidence of litigation. This means lower experience modifications and greater premiums savings for our insured employers.”
At the heart of CompWest’s industry leading approach to workers’ compensation is a culture of ‘Care’ that is pervasive. “An insurance company can’t just decide one day that it will care too”, comments Steve Pogue, CompWest’s co-founder and CFO. “Care has to begin at the top of the company as an unwavering belief that it is the right thing to do, and be embedded in your value system and business processes. In other words, ‘Care’ has to become the culture of the company.”
Aligning key constituents in this caring way of providing worker’s compensation insurance is what CompWest calls its ‘Circle of Care’ to controlling and reducing workers’ compensation costs. The ‘Circle of Care’ brings together an Employer that cares about their employees, a professional insurance broker that provides value-added consultation and services (such brokers are known as CompWest Partner Brokers), and CompWest Insurance Company whose own staff focus on loss prevention and pro-active claims management. Completing this circle is a unified model of care to prevent injuries and to provide prompt help when injuries do occur. “Each of the three constituents is of equal importance to driving down the costs of workers’ compensation insurance”, indicates Ken Van Laar, CompWest’s Chief Underwriting Officer. Each side of the triangle must be of equal strength, and if the three sides are not aligned around caring for employees and injured workers the circle will break. If the ‘Circle of Care’ breaks then it opens the door for litigation to occur. When litigation occurs, loss costs escalate and policyholder experience modifications increase. Workers’ compensation insurance premiums can be a manageable cost for California employers if they bring together a Partner Broker and CompWest to complete their ‘Circle of Care’.”
Workers’ compensation insurance and Workers’ Compensation with CareSM is available state-wide from CompWest through a select network of independent Partner Brokers.
CompWest is a licensed and admitted workers’ compensation insurance company in California and is backed by a $1 billion private equity fund and the world’s largest reinsurer. CompWest focuses on industries such as light manufacturing, retail/wholesale stores, services, auto dealers, restaurants, hotels, country clubs, wineries and commercial financial institutions. Contact CompWest at www.compwestinsurance.com or one of its Partner Brokers to find out about putting Workers’ Compensation with CareSM to work for your business.
More than 330 California businesses insure with CompWest; recent rate reductions total 24% since January 1, 2005
San Francisco, CA, June 14, 2005. CompWest Insurance Company provides workers’ compensation insurance and its unique Workers’ Compensation with CareSM service model to more than 330 California businesses, totaling over $32 million in annual premiums.
Building on its rate reduction in April, CompWest has filed for an additional rate reduction of 15.3% (effective July 1, 2005). The recent worker’s compensation system reforms and CompWest’s service approach have resulted in total rate reductions of 24% since January 1, 2005.
“We are delighted with the quality and the commitment of the employers who have purchased their workers’ compensation insurance from CompWest through our Partner Brokers”, notes Bill Mudge, CompWest’s President and CEO. “Together our Partner Brokers, our policyholders and CompWest are achieving significantly improved workers’ compensation results.”
CompWest focuses on the needs of mid-sized businesses across California, providing them with caring and personalized services. “We are very pro-active with our policyholders about Rapid-Reporting of injuries, Building Rapport with injured workers and Keep at Work programs, reports Ron Field, Chief Medical and Disability Officer. “These strategies, part of our Workers’ Compensation with CareSM, really do lower the cost of claims and the incidence of litigation – and that leads to further premium savings”.
Workers’ compensation insurance from CompWest is available state-wide through a select network of independent insurance brokers who have been appointed as CompWest Partner Brokers. “Being a CompWest Partner Broker means that the brokerage is a specialist in workers’ compensation and in the needs of California businesses who have between 10 and 300 full-time employees”, said Ken Van Laar, CompWest’s Chief Underwriting Officer. “Our Partner Brokers have invested their own resources to help our policyholders better manage the cost of workers’ compensation. It’s a winning value proposition for our collective customers.”
CompWest writes workers’ compensation insurance for 196 industry classifications, including light manufacturing, retail/wholesale stores, services, auto dealers, restaurants, hotels, country clubs, wineries and financial institutions. Contact CompWest or one of its Partner Brokers to find out more about Workers’ Compensation with CareSM.
Workers’ Compensation
with CareSM reaches more than 175 California employers
in six months; reduced rates follow savings
San Francisco, CA, April 19, 2005. CompWest Insurance Company today surpassed the $20 million premium mark, providing its unique approach to managing workers’ compensation costs, called Workers’ Compensation with CareSM, to more than 175 businesses across California.
In response to positive industry trends and reform savings, CompWest was pro-active and recently reduced its insurance rates to pass on savings to customers.
“Through our select network of Partner Brokers, we are re-humanizing workers’ compensation insurance” said Bill Mudge, CompWest’s, co-founder, President and CEO. “In a business that is all about people, it is amazing how our industry has failed to treat both employers and injured workers in a personal and caring manner.”
“We formed CompWest to change that, and more California businesses are joining us every day to drive down their workers’ compensation costs”, said Ron Field, Chief Medical and Disability Officer.
At CompWest, policyholders experience personal service from senior level industry professionals. Rapport building with injured workers, strategies for ‘keep at work’ instead of return to work, litigation prevention and reform savings optimization are part of CompWest’s Workers’ Compensation with CareSM.
“With many years of combined California workers compensation expertise on our team we know what works to help our customers reduce their long-term cost of workers’ compensation insurance”, stated Janina Lopez, Senior Claims Examiner.
CompWest encourages feedback from its Partner Brokers, policyholders and injured workers through satisfaction surveys and open communication. “Our insured is very pleased at this point with CompWest by the way; there were a couple of minor claims already and the owner said the claim process was made very easy and the people helping were great. Thought you would want to know”, reported Pelayo Carranza, Andreini and Company, a CompWest Partner Broker.
CompWest monitors loss trends and reform opportunities for over 180 industry classes, including light manufacturing, retail/wholesale stores, services, auto dealers, restaurants, hotels, country clubs, wineries and financial institutions, to provide cost-effective workers’ compensation insurance.
“In response to positive industry trends and reform savings, CompWest was pro-active and recently reduced its insurance rates to pass on savings to customers”, commented Ken Van Laar, FCAS and Chief Underwriting Officer.
The combination of a Partner Broker, a motivated employer and CompWest provides the basis for real savings for many California businesses. Workers’ Compensation with CareSM is the catalyst that makes it happen.
CompPartners and CompWest Launch a Medical Provider Network - MPN - For Workers' Compensation Clients In California
Monday April 25, 8:03 am ET
IRVINE, Calif. April 25, 2005--CompWest Insurance Company, a workers' compensation insurance carrier, has selected CompPartners, Inc. to be its network and health care management partner in a Medical Provider Network (MPN) for its workers' compensation customers in California. The MPN has 28,000 physicians, 335 hospitals, and 6,654 ancillary facilities located throughout the state.
Designed to stem the rising medical costs in workers compensation, the MPN is a recent provision of workers' compensation reform in California that enables employers to direct injured employees to providers in a managed care network. Significant cost savings have been attributed to similar programs in other states.
CompPartners will provide a full line of managed care services, including its medical network, medical case management, utilization review, physician peer review and bill review services to CompWest's customers.
About CompWest
CompWest Insurance Company was created in Sept. 2004 in response to the shortage of workers' compensation insurance carriers in California. Headquartered in San Francisco, CompWest serves mid-market employers throughout the state through selected partner brokers. For more information, visit www.compwestinsurance.com.
About CompPartners
Based in Irvine, Calif. and founded in 1998, CompPartners is also California's largest HCO, providing workers' compensation health care services to insurers, third party administrators, and employers. In addition to the HCO and MPN product, CompPartners also offers a national Physician Peer Review program for workers' compensation and auto-liability. CompPartners was the first organization to be nationally accredited by URAC as an external review organization for workers' compensation. For more information, visit www.comppartners.com.
COMPWEST LAUNCHES WORKERS’ COMPENSATION OPERATIONS IN CALIFORNIA
San Francisco, CA, September 27, 2004 – CompWest Insurance
Company today announced that it has been licensed as a workers’ compensation
insurer by the California Department of Insurance, responding
to the significant capacity shortage in the California market.
Trident III, L.P., a private equity fund managed by MMC Capital,
is the lead investor in CompWest, with members of the management
team also investing in the new company. CompWest Insurance is
being capitalized initially with $50 million and will commence
underwriting immediately.
CompWest,
headquartered in San Francisco, will focus on serving the needs
of mid-market employers throughout California. The
company will work in partnership with a select number of regional
independent brokers with significant operations in California
and large books of workers’ compensation business.
The CompWest management team is led by William J. Mudge as CEO
and Stephen C. Pogue as CFO. Previously, Mr. Mudge served as
the CEO of Golden Eagle Insurance Corporation and as Chief Underwriting
Officer of Industrial Indemnity. Mr. Mudge has over 20 years
of experience in the California workers’ compensation market.
Mr. Pogue, who has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance
business, was previously a Senior Vice President of American
Re-Insurance Company.
“CompWest is responding to the urgent need for capacity
in the California workers’ compensation market and to the
series of regulatory reforms recently enacted by Governor Schwarzenegger
and the California Legislature,” said Mr. Mudge. “With
MMC Capital, we believe we have launched the right company with
the right team at the right time.”
“We are enthusiastic about our partnership with the CompWest
team. The recently enacted legislative reforms represent a significant
step towards addressing the problems with the state’s workers’ compensation
system and ensuring continued access to insurance capacity for
California’s business community,” said Meryl D. Hartzband,
Senior Principal and Investment Director, MMC Capital.
MMC Capital, Inc. is a global private equity firm with 20 years
of private equity experience. MMC Capital serves as the manager
of the Trident Funds, which have raised more than $3 billion
in committed capital to make investments in the insurance, employee
benefits and financial services industries. MMC Capital has been
the sponsor of more than fifteen insurance companies, including
ACE Limited, XL Capital Ltd. and AXIS Capital Holdings Limited.
