A.M. Best’s Rating = A++ Superior

As a subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, Berkshire Life places a very high priority on risk management, financial strength and operational excellence.

The financial strength rating from A.M. Best Company represents an independent opinion from the leading provider of insurer ratings regarding a company’s financial strength and ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

In November 2008, A.M. Best Co. upgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) to A++ (Superior) from A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to "aa+" from "aa" of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) (New York, NY) and its core subsidiaries, The Guardian Insurance & Annuity Company, Inc. and Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America.

The ratings reflect Guardian's superior capitalization, maintenance of positive earnings trends and the organization's successful execution of several key strategic initiatives over the past several years. The upgrade also considers the group's well diversified product portfolio, underpinned by strong positions in its core life, annuity, individual disability, dental and employee benefits markets.

Guardian's surplus levels have trended positively due largely to solid growth in statutory operating results. A.M. Best believes the organization has made substantial progress in the areas of product development, underwriting, technology, and enterprise risk management, which have positioned Guardian to realize future sales growth and more stable operating results. A.M. Best also believes Guardian's risk profile has improved with a renewed emphasis on core operations and a more conservative investment posture. For example, Guardian has fully hedged its common stock exposure, which insulated its statutory surplus against substantial unrealized losses.

Guardian has demonstrated that it is committed to maintaining its mutual status and remains focused on building policyholder value. The group has improved its efforts to maintain, recruit and train its core career agency distribution force and to complement its distribution through other avenues where appropriate. Additionally, A.M. Best notes that Guardian has developed and implemented a comprehensive enterprise risk management strategy, which effectively measures, monitors and reduces insurance, operational and investment risks.