AM Best Affirms Credit Ratings of HDI Global Select Insurance Company

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 23, 2025--

HDI Global Insurance Company(HGIC), a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of international Corporate & Specialty insurer, HDI Global SE (HDI), today announced that it has received the AM Best Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A+ (Superior) for HDI Global Select Insurance Company. The outlook of these credit ratings is stable.

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Receiving this affirmation from AM Best is consistent with HDI’s global rating, and further represents the Group's commitment to enhancing its offerings for the U.S. Corporate & Specialty insurance market by expanding its product offerings to a growing distribution and customer base. In December 2023, HGIC announced its acquisition of Indiana Lumbermens Insurance Company (ILIC), which is widely licensed including a Treasury listing (T-listing). HGIC later renamed ILIC as HDI Global Select Insurance Company and redomiciled the company to Illinois consistent with its place of domicile.

The acquisition provides an opportunity for HGIC to establish strategic partnerships and enter the surety market, among other lines of business. One such strategic partnership was launched earlier last year with Hallmark Financial Services where HDI Global Select Insurance Company provides capacity and product development support for Hallmark’s General Aviation and small to medium-sized commercial Property and Casualty insurance products.

In response to the affirmation, Marco Hensel, Chief Underwriting Officer of HGIC, said: “HDI Global Select Insurance Company’s rating affirmation by AM Best highlights our strong presence in the U.S. commercial insurance market and underscores our measured approach to insuring both domestic and global risks. Acting as a True Partner in Transformation for our clients, we continue to implement our global underwriting growth strategy. Through strategic partnerships and sound underwriting discipline, we are poised to continue growing our portfolio and are confident that we can offer a uniquely beneficial value proposition to both our insureds and business partners.”

About HDI Global SE (HDI)

Corporate & Specialty Insurer HDI Global SE (HDI) meets the needs of SMEs, larger companies, middle market and corporate clients with insurance solutions that are specifically tailored to their requirements. In addition to HDI's prominent position in the German and broader European market, the company has access to its own worldwide HDI Global Network covering more than 175 countries through its own HDI foreign branch offices, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and network partners.

In the United States, HDI operates through its three (3) wholly owned subsidiaries, HDI Global Insurance Company, a commercial property and casualty insurer headquartered in Chicago, IL and licensed in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, HDI Global Select Insurance Company, a commercial property and casualty insurer licensed in Washington D.C., and in all US states, and HDI Specialty Insurance Company, an Illinois domestic surplus lines insurer who provides both primary and excess coverage to specialized industries and is also authorized to write business nationwide.

Acting as the Partner in Transformation, HDI Global SE leads more than 5,100 International Programmes and offers its multinational client’s compliant coverage worldwide. HDI Global SE is the Corporate & Specialty Division of the Talanx Group and has been a leading insurer for several decades. Approximately 5,000 employees in this division generated insurance revenue (gross) of approx. EUR 9.1 billion in the year 2023 (according to IFRS 17).

The rating agency Standard & Poor’s has given the Talanx Primary Group a financial strength rating of A+/stable (strong) and AM Best has assigned the A+ Rating. Talanx AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in the MDAX.

Disclaimer

This news release may include forward-looking statements which are based on certain assumptions, expectations and opinions of the management of Talanx AG and HDI Global SE. These statements are, therefore, subject to certain known or unknown risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Talanx AG’s and HDI Global SE’s control, affect our business activities, business strategy, results, performance and achievements. Should one or more of these factors or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results, performance or achievements of Talanx AG and HDI Global SE may vary materially from those expressed or implied in the relevant forward-looking statement. Talanx AG and HDI Global SE do not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor do Talanx AG and HDI Global SE accept any responsibility for the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. Talanx AG and HDI Global SE neither intend, nor assume any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.

Marco Hensel, Chief Underwriting Officer, HDI Global USA (Photo: Business Wire)

The U.S. housing market slump dragged into its fourth year in 2025 as sales remained stuck at a 30-year low with rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates keeping many prospective home shoppers out of the market.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes totaled 4.06 million last year, flat versus 2024, when sales sank to the lowest level since 1995, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Sales have declined on annual basis every year since 2022.

The median national home price for all of last year rose 1.7% to $414,400, the NAR said.

Sales have been stuck at around a 4-million annual pace now going back to 2023. That’s well short of the 5.2-million annual pace that’s historically been the norm.

“2025 was another tough year for homebuyers, marked by record-high home prices and historically low home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “However, in the fourth quarter, conditions began improving, with lower mortgage rates and slower home price growth."

The U.S. housing market has been in a sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage was around 7% a year ago and remained elevated for much of the year until late summer, when they began to ease, falling to close to 6% by the end of the year, according to Freddie Mac.

That recent pullback in mortgage rates helped drive existing U.S. home sales in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million units, a 5.1% increase from November and the fastest sales pace in nearly three years, NAR said.

That topped the 4.14 million sales pace economists expected, according to FactSet.

Home prices also rose in December, pushing up the median sales to $405,400, a 0.4% increase from December 2024. That's also an all-time high for any previous December and the 30th consecutive month with an annual increase in the median sales price, NAR said.

Despite lower mortgage rates, affordability remains a challenge for many aspiring homeowners, especially first-time buyers who don’t have equity from an existing home to put toward a new home purchase. Uncertainty over the economy and job market are also keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines.

A "For Sale" sign is seen on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)