New York, March 09, 2012 -- The following release represents Moody's Investors Service's summary credit
opinion on Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. and includes
certain regulatory disclosures regarding its ratings. This release
does not constitute any change in Moody's ratings or rating rationale
for Nationwide Financial Services, Inc.
Moody's current ratings on Nationwide Financial Services, Inc.
and its affiliates are :
Nationwide Financial Services, Inc.
Senior Unsecured domestic currency ratings of Baa1
Junior Subordinate domestic currency ratings of Baa2
Nationwide Life Global Funding I:
Backed Senior Secured domestic currency ratings of A1
Backed Senior Secured foreign currency ratings of A1
Backed Senior Secured MTN domestic currency ratings of (P)A1
Nationwide Life Insurance Company:
Insurance Financial Strength ratings of A1
Backed Commercial Paper domestic currency ratings of P-1
RATING RATIONALE
SUMMARY RATING RATIONALE
The A1 insurance financial strength (IFS) ratings (stable outlook) of
Nationwide Financial Services' (NFS) US life insurance subsidiaries -
Nationwide Life Insurance Company (NLIC) and Nationwide Life & Annuity
Insurance Company (NLAIC) - collectively, "Nationwide Life"
or the "company", and the Baa1 senior debt rating of NFS are based
on the company's established position in the annuity and pension markets,
diversified distribution channels and strong brand recognition,
as well as strong capitalization.
Offsetting these strengths are the company's significant exposure to highly
competitive, lower-margin asset accumulation products and
guaranteed variable annuities (VAs), which have continued to expose
NFS to equity market risk and earnings volatility since the financial
crisis in 2008-2009. Although VA hedging has helped maintain
regulatory capital ratios at healthy levels, profitability is weak.
In addition, the companies have significant exposure to RMBS and
CMBS holdings, hybrid preferred securities, and commercial
mortgage loans, although losses have continued to subside since
2009.
Nationwide Financial Services, Inc. and its life insurance
subsidiaries have been wholly-owned by Nationwide Mutual Insurance
Company (NMIC) since January 2009.
Rating Outlook
The current outlook for NFS is stable.
What to watch for:
- Recovery of profitability;
- Potential reallocation of capital to NFS or NMIC;
- Variable annuity sales and performance.
What Could Change the Rating - Up
The following factors could result in an upgrade of the ratings of NFS
and its subsidiaries:
-Sustained adjusted financial leverage (consolidated GAAP for Nationwide
Mutual and NFS) below 25%;
-Interest coverage consistently above 8x (consolidated GAAP);
-Sustainable, significant ROC growth (i.e.,
to at least 8%).
What Could Change the Rating - Down
The following factors could result in a downgrade of NFS' ratings:
-Adjusted financial leverage (consolidated GAAP for Nationwide
Mutual and NFS) above 30% for an extended period;
-Interest coverage below 4x (consolidated GAAP);
-Consolidated NAIC RBC ratio (as percentage of Company Action Level)
for the life companies of less than 325%;
The principal methodology used in this rating was Moody's Global Rating
Methodology for Life Insurers published in May 2010. Please see
the Credit Policy page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this
methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
Although this credit rating has been issued in a non-EU country
which has not been recognized as endorsable at this date, this credit
rating is deemed "EU qualified by extension" and may still
be used by financial institutions for regulatory purposes until 30 April
2012. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the
Moody's office that has issued a particular Credit Rating is available
on www.moodys.com.
For ratings issued on a program, series or category/class of debt,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series
or category/class of debt or pursuant to a program for which the ratings
are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's
rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular
rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the
support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings,
this announcement provides relevant regulatory disclosures in relation
to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive
rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt,
in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed
prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would
have affected the rating. For further information please see the
ratings tab on the issuer/entity page for the respective issuer on www.moodys.com.
Information sources used to prepare the rating are the following:
parties involved in the ratings, public information, and confidential
and proprietary Moody's Investors Service information.
Moody's considers the quality of information available on the rated
entity, obligation or credit satisfactory for the purposes of issuing
a rating.
Moody's adopts all necessary measures so that the information it
uses in assigning a rating is of sufficient quality and from sources Moody's
considers to be reliable including, when appropriate, independent
third-party sources. However, Moody's is not
an auditor and cannot in every instance independently verify or validate
information received in the rating process.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for general disclosure on potential conflicts of interests.
Please see the ratings disclosure page on www.moodys.com
for information on (A) MCO's major shareholders (above 5%)
and for (B) further information regarding certain affiliations that may
exist between directors of MCO and rated entities as well as (C) the names
of entities that hold ratings from MIS that have also publicly reported
to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%.
A member of the board of directors of this rated entity may also be a
member of the board of directors of a shareholder of Moody's Corporation;
however, Moody's has not independently verified this matter.
Please see Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions on the Rating
Process page on www.moodys.com for further information on
the meaning of each rating category and the definition of default and
recovery.
Please see ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com
for the last rating action and the rating history. The date on
which some ratings were first released goes back to a time before Moody's
ratings were fully digitized and accurate data may not be available.
Consequently, Moody's provides a date that it believes is
the most reliable and accurate based on the information that is available
to it. Please see the ratings disclosure page on our website www.moodys.com
for further information.
Please see www.moodys.com for any updates on changes to
the lead rating analyst and to the Moody's legal entity that has
issued the rating.
Laura Bazer
VP - Senior Credit Officer
Financial Institutions Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Robert Riegel
MD - Insurance
Financial Institutions Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Moody's Disclosures on Credit Rating of Nationwide Financial Services, Inc.