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For the 12th consecutive year, Standard & Poor's has conferred its top "AAA" rating on the Knights of Columbus, based on its "extremely strong capital and liquidity and a very strong competitive position." S&P rates 1,468 life insurance companies, of which only 34 received the AAA rating. The Knights of Columbus is the only fraternal insurance company in this elite group. S&P reported that its insurer financial strength rating of the Knights of Columbus reflects "superior capitalization, strong profitability and liquidity."
Supreme Knight and chief executive officer Carl Anderson said that the S&P rating "reflects our success in providing insurance products and a fraternal agency system that are among the very finest in the industry." Insurance sales over the past year included whole life, term life, annuities and long term care products.
Knights of Columbus insurance is sold exclusively by more than 1,400 agents who are also members of the organization. Standard & Poor's credited "this strong agency force" and the "unique affinity" agents have with policyholders for the loyalty of the customer base.
"Protecting Catholic families with life insurance has been a central part of the Knights of Columbus mission since our founding," Anderson said. "We have succeeded spectacularly, and our members recognize the superb value of the products we offer. During the past year we have reached an extraordinary milestone: $5.2 billion of new life insurance issued, an increase of more than 16 percent over the previous year. In the past decade, our amount of insurance in force has doubled, to more than $50 billion. And the fact that we have been able to maintain S&P's highest rating even as we’ve grown so dramatically is a testament to the quality of our management and employees, our insurance products and our agents."
The Knights of Columbus also receives the highest rating offered by the A.M. Best Co., A++ (Superior), and is certified by the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA) for ethical sales and marketing practices. It is one of only six insurance companies to hold the top rating from both Standard & Poor's and A.M. Best, as well as the IMSA designation.
As a fraternal benefit organization, the 1.7 million member Knights of Columbus also provides volunteer opportunities for its members. In 2003 Knights reported raising and donating $130 million to charity and giving 61 million hours of service to the Catholic Church and their communities, chiefly through the organization's 13,000 local units throughout North America.
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