Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of 'BBB' to Jackson Financial Inc.'s (Jackson) issuance of senior unsecured notes.

The ratings previously assigned to Jackson and its insurance operating subsidiaries are unaffected by today's rating action.

Key Rating Drivers

The notes have been assigned a rating one notch below Jackson's (BBB+/Stable) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating, which reflects standard notching as described in Fitch's insurance rating criteria.

Jackson's announced senior unsecured note issuance reflects a meaningful step in Jackson's recapitalization plans following its separation from Prudential PLC. As an independent company, Fitch expects financial leverage will be in line with the industry median and Fitch's guidelines for companies rated in the 'a' category. Over the longer term, Fitch expects that leverage will remain below 25%, in line with rating expectations and management's long-term target range of 20%-25%.

Jackson's debt service capabilities will remain strong, and the company's anticipated GAAP based fixed-charge coverage is expected to exceed rating expectations.

Proceeds from the notes will be used to retire the company's outstanding 2022 term loan, the proceeds of which were contributed to its primary operating subsidiary Jackson National Life for general corporate purposes.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to positive rating action/upgrade:

Significant diversification of Jackson's liability profile;

Improved capital metrics for Jackson, as measured by a Prism capital score consistently above 'Strong'.

Factors that could, individually or collectively, lead to negative rating action/downgrade:

An increase in the degree of reported financial performance volatility driven by equity market volatility, a low-for-long interest rate environment and broader macroeconomic-related headwinds;

A decline in Jackson's Prism capital-model output consistently below 'Strong', along with declines in reported risk-based capital ratio and profitability;

Financial leverage consistently in excess of 25%;

Fixed charge coverage that consistently falls below 7.0x;

Unexpected economic or operational disruptions as a result of Jackson's transition to a standalone company.

Best/Worst Case Rating Scenario

International scale credit ratings of Financial Institutions and Covered Bond issuers have a best-case rating upgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a positive direction) of three notches over a three-year rating horizon; and a worst-case rating downgrade scenario (defined as the 99th percentile of rating transitions, measured in a negative direction) of four notches over three years. The complete span of best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings for all rating categories ranges from 'AAA' to 'D'. Best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings are based on historical performance. For more information about the methodology used to determine sector-specific best- and worst-case scenario credit ratings, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/site/re/10111579

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

ESG Considerations

Unless otherwise disclosed in this section, the highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3'. This means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit www.fitchratings.com/esg.

RATING ACTIONS

Entity / Debt

Rating

Jackson Financial Inc.

senior unsecured

LT

BBB

New Rating

Page

of 1

VIEW ADDITIONAL RATING DETAILS

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com

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