AM Best Places Credit Ratings of Banner Life Insurance Company and William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York Under Review With Developing Implications

AM Best has placed under review with developing implications the Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “aa-” (Superior) of Banner Life Insurance Company (BLIC) (Frederick, MD) and William Penn Life Insurance Company of New York (William Penn-NY) (New York).

On Feb. 7, 2025, Legal & General Group Plc (L&G) agreed to the sale of its U.S. protection business to Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company (Meiji) and to establish a strategic partnership with Meiji to grow the U.S. pension risk transfer (PRT) business with Meiji taking a 20% interest in L&G’s U.S. PRT business, for a value of $2.3 billion. The deal is expected to close prior to year-end 2025 and includes rated subsidiaries, BLIC and William Penn-NY. These two subsidiaries primarily offer term life insurance and complete PRT transactions. The announcement of the transaction included the formation of a strategic partnership between L&G and Meiji. In this partnership, L&G will retain 80% of new and existing U.S. PRT business through reinsurance agreements and serve in an asset managerial role. The transaction and partnership are expected to help grow Meiji’s presence in the U.S. life insurance space, as part of a broader international growth strategy.

The role of BLIC and William Penn-NY within the Meiji organization will develop as the deal progresses and completes. The pending transaction and level of strategic importance to Meiji will be monitored and assessed in the months to come by AM Best.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

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