UGRIC to Retain Triple-A Status

United Guaranty Residential Insurance Co., Greensboro, N.C., has announced that it plans to maintain its triple-A rating status despite the recent decision by the only other triple-A rated mortgage insurer to move voluntarily to double-A status."Although [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] place no particular value on the triple-A rating, both we and our mortgage lending customers see great benefit in United Guaranty's triple-A rating, including lower cost for certain mortgage-backed securities transactions," said H. G. "Tripp" Waddell III, executive vice president and chief financial officer of UGRIC's parent company, United Guaranty Corp. GE Mortgage Insurance announced Sept. 26 that it would reduce its capital to the double-A levels that prevail in the industry in order to improve its return on equity and make more efficient use of its capital. UGRIC can be found online at http://www.ugcorp.com.