Max Re executives are hoping ratings agency A.M. Best may raise their financial strength rating in the next year.

On an earnings call with investment analysts yesterday, CEO Robert Cooney and CFO Keith Hynes said the company's A- (excellent) financial strength rating did not seem to be bearing negatively on business volume but they were hopeful that an upgrade might happen after their next review from A.M. Best in the fall.

Mr. Cooney and Mr. Hynes were speaking with analysts in their quarterly conference call following the release of Max Re's earnings yesterday morning, showing net income for the three month period of $43 million.

Max Re has held their A- rating since January, 2000 when they wrote their first business, having been formed the previous July. The company also has an A (strong) financial strength rating from Fitch Ratings, a rating also held since 2000.

A re/insurance company's rating can be a key factor in its drive to attract business, as company's are more likely to place business with a re/insurer that has a strong financial rating.

Yesterday, both Max Re executives said that five years on they hoped they might get an upgrade after proving themselves as an established company but said they were not counting on it, and were happy with the level of business they were writing.

Mr. Hynes said an upgrade was one of his "major goals" in the next year, but whatever happened the company was happy with the level of business it was seeing, and the profits that business was generating.

Mr. Cooney added that an upgrade could be in the offing as Max Re is no longer a new kid on the block, but a company with a proven track record ? including a shift from a business model focusing on alternative risks to more traditional products after market conditions changed in 2001.

"We are going into our fifth year in business," he pointed out and that they may now "get away from new company discounting," with rating agencies tending to be more conservative in the ratings they give to newly established ventures.

He said that there were "plenty of (business) opportunities" and the "bottom line point of view is this (rating) is not really impacting us," he said on the call.

The company escaped having their A- and A ratings, from A.M. Best and Fitch respectively, downgraded in the last two years when many of their global rivals would have seen their financial strength ratings knocked down a notch or more.