Insurance rating firm A.M. Best Co. announced today that it will consolidate all Canadian operations previously conducted by its Toronto office into its corporate headquarters in Oldwick, New Jersey.

The objective of the closing is to streamline its Canadian rating and data reporting operations, which included many overlapping and redundant activities. The Toronto office was obtained through the acquisition of TRAC Insurance Services in June 1999. The closing of the Toronto office will be effective June 30, 2003.

While Canadian rating activities have largely been conducted out of Oldwick, in recent years data collection and product activities had been handled in Toronto. After the closing, all of these operations will be handled by staff in Oldwick. A.M. Best’s Toronto office will remain open through June 30 to ensure an orderly transition of activities.

A.M. Best says it remains committed to the Canadian insurance market, where it currently has ratings on virtually all Canadian life and property/casualty insurance companies and Canadian branches of foreign companies.

The firm says companies rated by it will continue to be followed by the same Oldwick-based analytical team as before. In addition, Best’s analytical team will continue to provide detailed financial reports on all rated companies and will publish detailed research reports on various industry topics. These ratings and special research reports will remain available through the company’s Canadian web site, www.ambest.ca.