Rating agency Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Swiss-based Zurich Financial Services Group to negative from stable.
The agency said this decision was made to reflect its concerns about the impact of continued equity market falls on the group's capitalisation.
At the same time, the outlook on the group's holding company, Zurich Group Holding (ZGH), was revised to negative from stable. The counterparty credit rating on ZGH is A.
In a statement S&P analyst Karin Clemens said: "The outlook revisions reflect concerns over the increasing pressure on the ZFS group's risk-based capitalisation and financial flexibility (the ability to source new capital relative to capital requirements) as a result of the sharp stock market decline.
"Management's intention to strengthen capital using a number of options at its disposal is clear, but while current capital market conditions persist the alternatives of fresh equity issues, debt issues, or asset disposals remain limited," she continued.
She added that the negative outlook is not a precursor to a downgrade, but indicates the likely direction of the rating over the next one to three years.
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