On December 4, 2020 A.M. Best rating agency affirmed the financial strength rating of B+ (Good) and the long-term issuer credit rating of "bbb-" of AzRe Reinsurance (Azerbaijan), with positive outlook, according to the agency's report.

This is one of the highest investment ratings in the financial market of Azerbaijan Republic. The ratings reflect AzRe's balance sheet strength, underpinned by its consolidated risk-adjusted capitalization, good quality retrocession and a conservative investment portfolio by asset type; strong operating performance; limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management. The positive outlooks reflect the continued resilience of AzRe's balance sheet strength amid a challenging operating environment.

As the agency noted, in recent years AzRe has achieved strong operating results, its five-year weighted average combined ratio is 52.8% and a return on equity is 24.4% (2015-2019). "Results for the first nine months of 2020 remained good, with each (re)insurance subsidiary of AzRe reporting an operating profit", said the report.

AzRe is one of the leading players in the Azeri (re)insurance market and is the only specialized reinsurer. Among negative assessment factors, AM Best mentioned the company's highly concentrated portfolio, by geography and LoB, with a significant share of GWP coming from personal accident business, as well as its small size by international standards.
The source: AM Best