On April 11, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services assigned its 'A-' junior subordinated debt rating to Lincoln National Corp.'s (NYSE:LNC) capital securities due April 2066. The rating on this issuance reflects both the subordinated position of the security and the security's optional deferral provision. The incremental risk of deferral posed by the mandatory deferral triggers were substantially reduced by an alternative coupon satisfaction mechanism, that requires stock issuance 30 days before an interest payment date if a trigger has occurred. The counterparty credit rating on LNC reflects its strong diversified cash flows from both insurance and noninsurance operations, very strong fixed-charge coverage of 8.9x, and modest financial leverage of 19%, considering 100% equity content for this issuance on a
