Best Rating Agency winner: AM Best

Praised as a recognised leader and for the company’s “practical view to risk taking”, participants commended AM Best for several elements of its business.

One respondent said: “They have extensive, specialised insurance insight and produce reports on the industry regularly.”

Another said: “They have a strong knowledge and there is consistency in everything that they do.”

Other comments focused on the company’s coverage of specific regions such as the US and its dedication to the re/insurance industry.

AM Best Company was founded in 1899 by Alfred M Best. The company, which provides global credit ratings with a unique focus on the insurance industry, now has offices in the US, the UK, Hong Kong, Dubai and Mexico, with a news bureau in Washington, DC.

AM Best’s services are used by insurance professionals, brokers, regulators and consumers as an opinion of the financial strength and creditworthiness of risk-bearing entities and investment vehicles.

Standard and Poor’s was commended for its extensive coverage with one respondent saying: “They cover a broad range and more areas than others in the business.”

Less than a point behind, Moody’s, which as a corporation reported revenue of $3 billion in 2013, was praised for its fair ratings and up-to-date knowledge of the Lloyd’s market.

The company, which employs approximately 9,500 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 33 countries, was also recognised for its confidence and efficiency.

“AM Best have extensive, specialised insurance insight and produce reports on the industry regularly.”

Fourth and fifth place were gained by Fitch and Demotech, respectively. Scoring 6.23, global rating agency Fitch, which was founded as the Fitch Publishing Company in 1913 by John Knowles Fitch, received commendation for its regional abilities, with one participant saying: “They are accepted by the regulatory authority in Cyprus.” Another praised the company for its work in Germany.

Demotech, which was established in 1985, slipped into fifth place.

Commended for the quality of its work and staff, one respondent said: “The quality of people at Demotech is excellent and they really know how to get granular with financials.”

The companies in the shortlists seen here were selected based on the first stage of the research, conducted via phone interviews and open online polls. Respondents were asked to name two companies they regard highly in this category. They were then asked to give details of why they had chosen these firms.

The shortlist for this category reflects the companies mentioned the most frequently. The researchers then approached the market a second time and, using this shortlist presented in a random order, asked respondents to score each company out of ten based on how they perceive the quality of the products, services and expertise of each. It is the results of this part of the survey that are shown here.

More than 500 respondents took part in each part of the survey respectively.

The score shows the average score out of ten that each company received in stage two of the survey.

The shortlist was presented to respondents in a random order.