Comdex

The Comdex is a composite index of a life insurer's financial strength ratings, calculated by EbixExchange and distributed through its VitalSigns subscription service. Rather than forming its own opinion, it takes the ratings a company already holds from major agencies such as AM Best, S&P Global, Moody's and Fitch, and converts each into a percentile rank among all the companies that agency rates.

The Comdex is the average of those percentiles, on a scale of 1 to 100, and a company generally needs ratings from at least two agencies to receive one. Hypothetical example: if an insurer's AM Best rating places it in the 90th percentile of companies AM Best rates and its S&P rating places it in the 80th percentile, its Comdex is 85, meaning its ratings are on average better than those of about 85% of rated companies.

The Comdex is a quick screen, not a full picture. It ignores whether ratings are trending up or down, hides disagreement between agencies, and small gaps such as 92 versus 94 mean little. Agents often quote it, but you can look up the underlying ratings yourself, and state guaranty associations provide a backstop if an insurer fails. See The Comdex ranking: one number for insurer strength and AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explained.