On Jan. 31, 2005, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'A+' counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on the members of the St. Paul Intercompany Pool, the members of the Travelers Intercompany Pool, Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of America, and Travelers Casualty and Surety Co. of Europe Ltd. At the same time, Standard&Poor's affirmed its 'BBB+/A-2' long-term counterparty credit rating on St. Paul Travelers Cos. The outlook on all these companies remains stable. The affirmations follows today's announcement by St Paul Travelers that it strengthened net reserves by $868 million on a pretax basis ($581 million after taxes) in the fourth quarter of 2004. The reserve strengthening follows the completion of a previously announced review of
