Our 8-page May 2009 issue includes a partial update of our September 2008 special ratings issue.  It discusses ratings in light of the financial crisis, shows the ratings as of early March assigned to the 196 life-health insurance companies suggested in the ratings issue for conservative consumers, and includes a revised list of suggested companies.  We prepared the partial update because many rating changes have occurred since we assembled the ratings shown in the ratings issue.  The May issue also includes an article about capital infusions into insurance companies through accounting changes that were requested by many insurance companies and approved by their regulators.

Our 32-page September 2008 special ratings issue is our annual compilation of financial strength ratings of insurance companies and is widely purchased by insurance agents, brokers, and consumers. It explains the importance of ratings, explains how the ratings should be used by consumers and those who give advice to consumers. It shows 2,504 ratings assigned to 1,291 U.S. and Canadian life-health insurance companies and 858 ratings assigned to 291 large U.S. property-liability companies by A. M. Best Company, Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service, and Standard & Poor's as of August 1, 2008. The issue includes a list of 196 life-health companies that are suggested for consumers who are conservative from the standpoint of financial strength, a watch list of 370 life-health companies that show signs of possible financial difficulty, the rating firms' descriptions of their rating categories, and the distributions of the life-health ratings.

The partial ratings update should be reviewed in conjunction with the September 2008 special ratings issue. For that reason, if you do not have the special ratings issue, we suggest you purchase the May 2009 issue and the September 2008 issue.

The price of the September 2008 special ratings issue is $25. Quantities of the issue sent in one shipment are priced as follows: $18 each for at least 2, $12 each for at least 10, $10 each for at least 25, $8 each for at least 100, $7 each for at least 250, and $6 each for at least 1,000.

The price of the May 2009 issue is $10. Quantities of the issue sent in one shipment are priced as follows: $7.50 each for at least 2, $5 each for at least 10, and $4 each for at least 25. Further discounts apply to orders of at least 100 reprints of the issue.