Best notes that Sentinel Security Life utilizes varying levels of reinsurance to partially mitigate new business expense strains associated with its core product segments.

Best notes that the company benefits from the investment expertise of its key reinsurance partners.Ī.M. Additionally, the ratings recognize the positive performance of Sentinel Security Life's well-diversified fixed income investment portfolio that is largely investment grade and currently in a net unrealized gain position. However, recent net premium growth has been driven primarily by fixed annuities. The ratings continue to reflect diversity in Sentinel Security Life's business profile, which focuses on marketing final expense whole life insurance, Medicare supplement and select plans and fixed annuities to the senior market through a well-established, personal producing, non-captive general and associate general agent distribution network. Strategies for improvement in its risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), are currently being reviewed by management. The affirmation of the ratings reflects the improvement in total reported statutory capital following the issuance of $15 million of surplus notes in 2014 and the return to positive net operating gains to date in 2015. Expenses related to its continuing expansion efforts could also dampen earnings. Best's belief that Sentinel Security Life will be challenged to improve its net operating performance and risk-adjusted capitalization going forward given the expense strains anticipated from projected new business growth, interest expense associated with its surplus note issuance and the continuing challenges of managing its increasing levels of interest-sensitive liabilities through the persistent low interest rate environment. Sentinel Security Life has incurred net operating losses over the past three years that were impacted by elevated expenses related to the company's expansion, expense strains associated with its new business growth and several one-time expenses. The company's unfavorable net operating performance during the past three years has contributed to lower-than-expected capital levels. The high level of growth has led to heightened reliance on reinsurance and has strained its risk-adjusted capital position. The negative outlook reflects weak operating results due to rapid growth in fixed annuity sales, declining spreads and costs related to product development and market expansion. The outlook for both ratings remains negative. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (Good) and the issuer credit rating of 'bbb' of Sentinel Security Life Insurance Company (Sentinel Security Life) (Salt Lake City, UT). (It almost always is still about the best rate, which is why I like Sentinel - but I want to be proactive, not reactive.) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, provide some sort of notification to us agents when a rate increase has been triggered for individual policy holders.Oldwick //BestWire// - A.M.

I look stupid when a client calls me to say he/she got a rate increase and wants to know if it is still a competitive rate. I have too many clients to check every month (via phone call to a Sentinel rep) to identify which of my clients will get a rate increase. PLEASE do the same thing for Sentinel's Med Supp policy holders. That email is triggered by the same process that generates an announcement letter that is mailed to the policy holder. Mutual of Omaha, for example, sends an email to me whenever a client's rate will be adjusted. Other companies that I work with provide a notice to agents when each policy holder is due for a rate increase. I have asked several Sentinel reps over time how I should know when a client will get a rate increase, and none have been able to tell me how the increase date is triggered. The algorithm for determining when a policy holder will get a rate increase seems to be undefined.

Sentinel security life contest