Insurance company rating agency AM Best yesterday affirmed its financial strength rating (FSR) of A− (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of "a−" of Guardian Life of the Caribbean Ltd (GLOC) and Guardian General Insurance Ltd (GGIL). But the rating agency also affirmed its ICR of "bbb−" to Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL), the publicly traded holding company and ultimate parent of GLOC and GGIL. The outlook for all ratings is stable. GHL is listed on the Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaican stock exchanges. All companies are domiciled in Port of Spain, Trinidad. According to AM Best: "The affirmation of the ratings of GLOC and GGIL reflect GHL's stable leverage position and consolidated balance sheet strength, favorable operating results and premium growth for the past several years. "The consistent profitability of both GLOC and GGIL, which are core insurance subsidiaries of GHL, enhances the overall strength of GHL's balance sheet, debt servicing capabilities and consolidated total equity. "Nevertheless, AM Best notes that the outstanding level of financial leverage at GHL remains somewhat high relative to its total equity. GHL's exposure in Jamaica through its life insurance subsidiary, although smaller than in prior years, remains an ongoing concern." The rating agency said that its ratings of GLOC acknowledges its strategic position within the GHL group, strong competitive advantage in the Trinidad and Tobago markets, consistently positive gains from operations at both life and pension and health insurance lines and its adequate level of risk−adjusted capitalisation. But it noted that offsetting these strengths are "GLOC's moderately increased insurance benefits and claims expenses, the impact of continuing volatility in the local, regional and global equity markets and the competitive and mature nature of the Trinidad and Tobago insurance marketplace." The company also added that among the key rating factors that could result in positive rating actions for GLOC include near−term reduced exposure to high risk markets, significant reduction in leverage by GHL and an expansion of the traditional life segment in GLOC's business mix. "Key rating factors that could result in negative rating actions include increased Jamaican exposure coupled with heightened sovereign risk, higher leverage at the holding company level, spread compression as well as deterioration in the credit quality of its asset portfolio," according to AM Best.