Standard & Poor’s is continuing to slash the ratings of US life insurance companies, but now it’s tempering its actions with soothing words. It said in a statement last week that the life insurance sector remains strong and profitable. S&P’s Insurance Ratings Director Tom Upton, who is based in the company’s New York head office, said focusing on some of the negative events in the environment “and some of the negative rating actions we’ve taken as a consequence of that, make it easy to forget that this is not a gloom-and-doom scenario”.

“In many respects, the US life insurance industry is better than ever,” he said. “It has stronger management, greater quantitative sophistication, and greatly improved operating efficiencies.”