S&P cuts Standard Insurance

Standard & Poor's said it lowered the counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Standard Insurance Co. to A+ from AA- and the counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on its parent company StanCorp Financial Group Inc. to BBB+ from A-.

S&P also lowered the preferred stock rating on StanCorp's junior subordinated issue of fixed-to-floating-rate income capital obligation notes to BBB- from BBB.

The outlook is stable.

The downgrades reflect the expectation that StanCorp will report a decline in full-year 2011 pretax GAAP operating income, excluding realized gains and losses, the agency said.

The ratings consider the company's strong competitive position based on its top-10 market positions in the group life and LTD insurance lines of business, the agency added. The company has very strong risk-adjusted capitalization, with statutory surplus redundant at the AA level.

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