AM Best has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the long-term issuer credit rating of ‘a+’ (Excellent) for Blue Whale Re, with a ‘stable’ outlook.
Blue Whale is a Vermont-based single-parent captive of Pfizer, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in the US.
The affirmation reflects Blue Whale’s very strong balance sheet, strong operating performance, neutral business profile, and appropriate enterprise risk management.
AM Best says the captive benefits from a high level of risk-adjusted capitalisation, supported by conservative reserving, prudent investment management and substantial financial flexibility provided by Pfizer.
Blue Whale plays a strategic role in Pfizer’s global risk management programme, primarily insuring or reinsuring the parent’s worldwide property exposures.
The captive retains significant risk on behalf of Pfizer, and in recent hard market conditions, it has selectively taken small participations in the group’s catastrophe tower to improve overall programme efficiency.
It also offers cyber liability capacity where appropriate, alongside access to a diverse and high-quality reinsurance panel.
AM Best notes that the captive is focused on low frequency, high severity risks, with these exposures managed in a way that has preserved its strong operating performance and profitability.
Despite its narrow scope as a single-parent captive, Blue Whale benefits from direct access to its parent’s risk portfolio and operational infrastructure.
The company is considered integral to Pfizer’s broader enterprise risk management framework, helping safeguard the group’s global assets.
The ‘stable’ outlook reflects AM Best’s expectation that Blue Whale will continue to generate strong underwriting results and that Pfizer’s support for the captive will remain unchanged.
