Concentration in the Italian insurance sector, which displays higher industry and country risk than most Western European insurance sectors. Strong competitive position, with growing market share, sustained by complementary distribution networks and good business diversification. Improvement of current relative weakness of capital adequacy, limited by expected life reserve growth and dividend policy. Risk position benefits from limited investments in high-risk assets. Adequate financial flexibility, supported by good coverage and leverage ratios and a recently proven ability to access debt markets. Cattolica's enterprise-risk management (ERM) and management and governance are neutral rating factors. Cattolica's liquidity is exceptional, owing to a highly liquid portfolio of investments. The negative outlook on Italian insurer Societa Cattolica di Assicurazione primarily reflects that on Italy, given
