Laser Focus World is an industry bedrock—first published in 1965 and still going strong. We publish original articles about cutting-edge advances in lasers, optics, photonics, sensors, and quantum technologies, as well as test and measurement, and the shift currently underway to usher in the photonic integrated circuits, optical interconnects, and copackaged electronics and photonics to deliver the speed and efficiency essential for data centers of the future.

Our 80,000 qualified print subscribers—and 130,000 12-month engaged online audience—trust us to dive in and provide original journalism you won’t find elsewhere covering key emerging areas such as laser-driven inertial confinement fusion, lasers in space, integrated photonics, chipscale lasers, LiDAR, metasurfaces, high-energy laser weaponry, photonic crystals, and quantum computing/sensors/communications. We cover the innovations driving these markets.

Laser Focus World is part of Endeavor Business Media, a division of EndeavorB2B.

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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Professor Andrea M. Armani, University of Southern California
  • Ruti Ben-Shlomi, Ph.D., LightSolver
  • James Butler, Ph.D., Hamamatsu
  • Natalie Fardian-Melamed, Ph.D., Columbia University
  • Justin Sigley, Ph.D., AmeriCOM
  • Professor Birgit Stiller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, and Leibniz University of Hannover
  • Professor Stephen Sweeney, University of Glasgow
  • Mohan Wang, Ph.D., University of Oxford
  • Professor Xuchen Wang, Harbin Engineering University
  • Professor Stefan Witte, Delft University of Technology

AM Best Releases Revised Criteria Procedure: ‘Rating Captives and Other Alternative Risk Transfer Entities’

AM Best has released its revised criteria procedure “Rating Captives and Other Alternative Risk Transfer Entities,” (formerly known as “Alternative Risk Transfer”) which is effective immediately.

AM Best initiated a Call for Comment (CFC) related to this criteria procedure on Dec. 2, 2024 and the comment period closed on Feb. 20, 2025.

In the final version of the revised criteria procedure, AM Best establishes a path to assigning Issuer Credit Ratings (ICR) and Financial Strength Ratings (FSR) to individual incorporated cell entities. Additional changes include: renaming the criteria procedure; updating nomenclature for cell companies and the various cell structures used in the insurance industry; affirming that the weakest link approach remains the path to rating unincorporated cell companies; setting baseline operational and legal foundational requirements for cell entities; adding detail to support acceptable Letter of Credit conditions; and other minor editorial revisions to provide clarity to this criteria.

The revisions to this criteria procedure will not result in a change to any currently published Best’s Credit Ratings.

During the CFC period, AM Best did not receive any written comments (public, private, or anonymous) from market participants in the insurance industry or any other interested parties on the proposed revisions to the criteria procedure. Consequently, no changes have been made to the final version of the criteria procedure as a result of the CFC. The Response to Comment document is published here: https://web.ambest.com/rating-methodologies/comments.

The updated criteria procedure is available at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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