Sectors

Introduction

AKG assesses and rates companies and other entities within specific peer groups or sectors. Such peer groups are fundamentally designed to reflect how customers and their advisers consider companies for use.

The company sectors assessed and rated by AKG are:

• Life Companies, Friendly Societies & Similar Providers
• Offshore Life Companies
• Platform Operators
• Discretionary Fund Managers

With Profits Fund Analysis and Ratings

Whilst with profits financial strength is assessed at a company level where appropriate in the above sectors, it is also assessed at a fund level. Thus With Profits Funds constitutes a sector in its own right. As this detailed assessment is not at a Company level, this sector is not included in the AKG Rating Portal. The primary delivery is via the UK Life Office With Profits Reports. With profits fund ratings are also provided to leading selection software systems in the intermediary sector.

Companies Appearing in More Than One Rating Sector

As a result of AKG’s underlying focus on how customers and their advisers use companies, together with the fact that companies (individual corporate entities) can establish activity in different areas, it is possible that they will need to be assessed in more than one sector.

Thus the same individual corporate entity may be rated once in one particular sector context or peer group and then again in another.

This approach delivers ratings on a sector by sector basis, that is more reflective of customer and adviser focused comparison.

Care should be taken by users in considering the appropriate sector and therefore rating when this occurs. For example a single company might be used as a platform operator, but also itself act as the provider of a SIPP product wrapper. When considering that company in the delivery of the platform, then the rating given by AKG within its Platform Operators rating sector should be used. However, when considering that same company for use in the delivery of the SIPP product wrapper (i.e. for accepting this business as a product provider), then the rating given by AKG within its Life Companies, Friendly Societies & Similar Providers rating sector should be used.