On 13th December 2016, Standard & Poor's (S&P) has reaffirmed an 'A-' rating for to Al Koot Insurance and Reinsurance Company (Al Koot) following its annual review. This reflects their view that Al Koot’s financial risk position is strong supported by extremely strong capital adequacy and an improved operating performance in 2016 owing to strong underwriting results. According to S&Ps update "Al Koot will sustain extremely strong risk-based capital adequacy – We anticipate it will show resilience to both underwriting event stress, which is eased by the quality and persistency of the reinsurance program, and to potential uncertainty caused by its changing role in the domestic market” In respect to specific rating criteria, S&P continue to view Al Koot's competitive position as adequate, although they see a risk that the company's premium income and market share in the Qatari market could reduce because of highly competitive market conditions in the domestic insurance market. Rating assessments of management and governance are satisfactory and enterprise risk management is 'adequate', whereas, for liquidity its 'strong' and anticipated that it will remain so. Although they recognize that QP golden share in Al Koot provides continued absolute operational and financial control of the insurer, the rating is based on Al Koot being a non-strategic subsidiary to QP and therefore there is no uplift for group support within the rating. Martin Massey, Chief Risk Officer of Al Koot said, "We are pleased that S&P has reaffirmed Al Koot's `A-' rating amid its undergoing transition from its captive insurance status to an open market insurer, which is a challenging phase. We are currently implementing a number of important strategic initiatives that will enhance our capabilities in the open market in line with the company’s strategy of writing long-term sustainable profitable business”.