MUMBAI (Thomson Financial) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said that its outlook for the US life insurance sector remained stable and that it expects positive and negative rating movements to be about equal over the next 12 months.

In its report, North American Insurance Holding Companies Brace For Year-End 2007, S&P noted that in the first half of 2007, the reinsurance market turned competitive, following a year of minimum catastrophe activity in 2006 and record profits.

Prices have been declining across the board with terms and conditions increasingly under pressure, S&P said, examining the status of the various insurance sectors: life, commercial lines property/casualty, personal lines, reinsurance, and health.

S&P said the managed care industry is expected to post less-dramatic earnings increases than in the past two years, though earnings and cash flow will generally stay strong.

It said it is seeing more balance between upgrades and downgrades, which is expected to persist for the remainder of 2007.

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