Standard & Poor's said the combination of the credit crunch and a depressed equity market has led it to issue a negative outlook on sectors of the U.S. insurance industry and downgrades for several insurers can be expected in the next 12 to 18 months.

In several reports the New York-based rating service issued last week, S&P said the revised outlook on several U.S. insurance sectors means it expects to see more downgrades than upgrades.

S&P analysts attributed losses to a combination of erosion in balance-sheet strength, soft market pricing and declines in investments.

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