December 13, 1899

• Alfred Magilton Best incorporated the Alfred M. Best Company, Inc. in the State of New York, with an office in New York City

1900

• Introduced Best's Insurance Reports^® --Property/Casualty, designed to provide information on the financial and operating performance of insurance companies.
• Introduced Best's Insurance News and Supplements, Property/Casualty, which later became Best's Review^® --Property/Casualty.

1903

• State reports for selected fire or life insurance companies were available by business year. The company offered 125 different volumes.  

1904

• Determined the losses of fire insurance companies involved in the Baltimore Conflagration, giving the company its first big boost.

1905

• Purchased Insurers Reporting Company.

1906

• Introduced a separate edition of Best's Insurance News and Supplements for Life/Health companies, which later became Best's Review--Life/Health.
• Began rating Property/Casualty companies and introduced Best's Key Rating Guide^®--Property/Casualty.

1907

• Published the Special Report Upon San Francisco Losses and Settlement pamphlet with information on the gross and net losses of the 243 insurance companies involved in the San Francisco earthquake.
• Introduced Best's Insurance Reports--Life/Health for companies operating in the U.S. and Canada, as a result of the Armstrong Investigation.

1928

• Began rating life insurance companies.
• Introduced Best's Directory of Insurance Attorneys, now known as Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys.

1930

• Introduced Best's Directory of Adjusters and Investigators, now known as Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Adjusters.

1940

• Introduced Best's Aggregates & Averages--Property/Casualty.

1953

• Established Best's Insurance News Digest--Property/Casualty and Life/Health, now known as BestWeek^®

1964

• Introduced Best's Executive Data Service, Property/Casualty, today called Best's State/Line Reports-- Property/Casualty.

1965

• Moved office to Morristown, New Jersey, and incorporated in the State of New Jersey.

1968

• Introduced Best's Loss Control Manual.

1969

• Acquired United Statistical Associates, Inc., a publisher of insurance company investment portfolios, namely Market Guide.^® Today Best's Market Guide is known as Best's Schedule D (Investments)--Property/Casualty & Life/Health--United States.

1972

• The Alfred M. Best Company became the A.M. Best Company.
• Introduced the Expert Service Providers section in the 1972-1973 edition of Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys & Adjusters.

1974

• Introduced Best's Agents Guide,^® later merged with Best's Key Rating Guide--Life/Health.
• Moved to present world headquarters in Oldwick, New Jersey.
• Introduced Best's Underwriting Guide.

1975

• Introduced Best's Insurance Filings Services, now known as Best's State Rate Filings.^®

1976

• Introduced Best's Executive Data Services--Life/Health, today known as Best's State/Line Reports-- Life/Health.

• Introduced non-U.S. version of Best's Insurance Reports.
• Introduced Best's Advance Rating Reports (BARRS), now known as AMB Credit Reports - Insurance Professional (Unabridged).

1986

• Introduced BestESP^® Services, A.M. Best's financial statement preparation software.

• Established Best's Education Services to provide training for purchasers of A.M. Best's electronic data products and BestESP^® Services.

1988

• Began holding an annual insurance technology conference addressing innovative uses of technology in the insurance industry, now known as the E-Fusion Conference.

1990

• Introduced Best's Experience By State (By Line), Property/Casualty and Life/Health on CD-ROM, today known as Best's State/Line--Property/Casualty Lines, Life Lines and Accident and Health Lines.  
• Began offering BestLine,^® a voice/fax information retrieval service, available today on the Internet.
• Established the Financial Performance Index to indicate the financial strength of unrated small or new companies. Name later changed to Financial Performance Rating (FPR).

1991

• Introduced additional titles on CD-ROM including:
  • Best's Insurance Reports Property/Casualty and Life/Health
  • Best's Underwriting Analysis (by Line) with Ratios, IEE, Property/Casualty, today known as Best's Insurance Expense Exhibit--Property/Casualty--United States.
• Introduced Best's Key Rating Guide--Life/Health, in print and on diskette.

1992

• Introduced Best's Statement File on CD-ROM and offered training.

1993

• First Review & Preview Conference held, based on A.M. Best's annual study published in January.
• Introduced Best's Managed Care Reports - HMO. Now much of this information can be found in Best's Health Center.
• Introduced BestWire,^® a news service available via the Internet.