For the 15th consecutive year, the Knights of Columbus has earned the highest rating: AAA (Extremely Strong) from Standard & Poor’s. With more than 140 years experience, Standard & Poor’s is the financial industry’s foremost independent rating bureau, providing investment, credit and risk analyses of financial institutions around the world.

“K of C is achieving its primary objective of providing members and their families with high-quality, low-cost insurance products,” the S&P report said. The rating agency declared that “KC’s capitalization is extremely strong,” that “operating performance is strong,” and that the Order’s “liquidity is viewed as very strong.”

“K of C has historically maintained extremely strong capitalization. At year-end 2006, the capital-adequacy ratio was 1084%, which is the highest in the industry,” the report continued. “Its unique relationship with its members fosters a strong affinity, which translates into one of the industry’s lowest lapse rates.” S&P added that “KofC is extremely cost-conscious,” and maintains “a high dividend payout ratio of 75%-85%.”

“The company returned 84% of its earnings to its members in 2006,” the report added. “Its consistently strong profitability is attributable to high persistency rates, favorable mortality experience, and strong investment returns over the past 10 years.”

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said that “the new Standard & Poor’s report confirms that we continue to succeed in our goal of offering a well-managed, financially rock-solid insurance program for our members. As we celebrate 125 years of faith in action, we can take real pride in the way in which we have accomplished that goal.”

The Knights of Columbus also recently received an A++ (Superior) rating for the 32nd consecutive year from the A.M. Best Company, which specializes in the evaluations of insurance organizations. The K of C is one of only five insurance providers in North America to receive the highest ratings from both Standard & Poor’s and A.M. Best, as well as certification from the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA) for ethical business practices.

Founded 125 years ago, the Knights of Columbus is a fraternal benefit society and is the world’s largest lay Catholic organization with more than 1.7 million members. Last year members of the Knights of Columbus donated more than 68 million hours of volunteer service for charitable causes, and contributed more than $143 million to charity.