Purpose of Reports
AKG reports provide a principal delivery mechanism for AKG information and are the context in which many of its ratings are delivered together with further background and supporting information for market use.
AKG therefore adopts this level of focus on operational capability and does not seek to rate group / holding companies. Our assessment falls at a lower corporate level than typically considered in other types of rating, although consideration of such group and parental aspects remain very important contextual criteria.
In the UK and other markets, financial advisers are required to consider the financial strength of organisations with whom they deal. AKG Financial Strength Reports are designed to meet the information needs of advisers. The reports cover a range of companies, with particular emphasis on those operating in the UK intermediary market.
This contrasts to credit rating, which will be undertaken at group or parent company level where investment or debt placement etc. is made. This is perfectly reasonable for credit rating, but it is unreasonable and inappropriate for customer-oriented assessment.
An additional focus on With Profits Funds
The evolution of AKG's company level operational and customer orientated financial strength assessment has part of its roots in its original focus on the financial strength of with profits funds. This focus also continues to this day, with AKG's market leading provision of with profits fund and sub fund assessment, delivered to the adviser community through its UK Life Office With Profits Reports publication, as well as via the leading third party selection systems.
Rating View
Ratings for all companies are contained in the Rating View documents. These are provided on a sector by sector basis. They comprehensively show all issued AKG ratings in that sector for ease of viewing.
The PDFs in the Rating View are updated when any new rating is added, a rating is withdrawn, or when a rating is re-issued (either confirmed at the same level, or with a change).
The ratings mirror the rating population delivered through leading third party selection systems.
Review Process and Report Issue
Each report is updated at least once a year, following extensive assessment of the latest statutory financial data, together with other financial and supporting information and, in the case of participatory report assessments, further interrogative elements.
However, the underlying AKG assessment process undertakes ongoing monitoring and review of assessments and ratings throughout the year. This means that whilst always taking a ‘long term view’ of financial strength and adding depth and richness of data through the annual revision process, the assessments, ratings and their reports are part of a constant, dynamic process and can be reissued if required at any time.
Availability of Information
AKG has attempted to obtain as much detailed information (particularly of a financial nature) as possible about each of the companies assessed in this series of reports. However, the depth of information available to AKG varies from one company to another.