London -- Standard&Poor's CreditWire 11/6/98 -- Standard&Poor's today assigned its triple-'A' (extremely strong) counterparty credit and financial strength ratings to core companies within the Allianz AG group. The counterparty credit and commercial paper ratings on Allianz of America, Inc. have been raised to 'A-1'-plus from 'A-1'. Standard&Poor's also assigned its financial strength ratings to a number of other Allianz AG subsidiaries (see list below). The outlook is stable. The rating assignments for core companies reflect the extremely strong business position in Europe, extremely strong capitalization, and strong profitability. Partially offsetting these strengths is the need to respond to the rapidly changing global market. Major Rating Factors: -- Extremely strong business position in Europe: Allianz
