The Ward Group published its annual list of the Top 50 property casualty insurance companies earlier this summer. But with vacations and the like, Agency Checklists thought it might be interesting to revisit this list after Labor Day, when most are more focused on the tasks at hand. The annual review, now in its 21st year, looks at the financial performance of over 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies in order to select the top 50 performers for its list.
The first level is the Safety and Consistency test where insurance companies must pass the minimum thresholds in order to be considered for appointment to the list. The minimum thresholds include: Surplus and premiums of at least $50 million for each of the 5 years analyzed; Net income in at least 4 of the last 5 years; Risk-based capital ration of at least 100# for each of the 5 years analyzed; Compound anual growth in premiums between -10% and +40%; Net written premium divided by net written premium is less than 130%; Ranked in top 10% of peer business mix benchmark group
Companies who successfully pass this first round are then subjected to a second evaluation of performance measurements which include: Five Year Average Return on Average Equity; Five Year Average Return on Average Assets; Five Year Average Return on Total Revenue; Five Year Growth in Revenue; Five Year Improvement in Surplus to Written Premium; Five Year Average Combined Ratio.
The Ward Group also notes that an important objective of its Top 50 List is to compare the performance benchmarks of the Ward’s 50 as a group in comparison with the rest of the property-casualty industry. Key differences include the following:
- Ward’s 50 companies’ combined ratio was 9.4 points lower for the five-year combined ratio than the rest of the industry (90.2% v. 99.6%);
- Policyholder surplus grew by 28.6% among the Ward’s 50 companies compared to 16.2% for the rest of the industry;
- Net premiums written for the Ward’s 50 companies grew by .9% as opposed to the industry-wide decline of 2.5%;
- Ward’s 50 P/C companies producer a 13.8% return on average equity from 2006 to 2010 compared to 8.7% for the rest of the industry;
- The Top 50 companies have a lower expense ratio overall – in 2010 expenses relative to revenue were 8.3% lower for these 50 companies.
Domestic insurance carriers and those doing business in the Commonwealth who are on the list have been highlighted in red bold type. You can also click on any of the names to link with their company websites.
Acuity
Alaska National Insurance Company
Alleghany Group
Allstate Insurance Company
American Financial GroupAmerican Modern Insurance Group
Amerisafe
Amica Mutual Insurance Group
The Andover Companies
Assurant GroupBalboa Insurance Company
Bear River Mutual Insurance Company
Brethren Mutual Insurance Company
Capital Insurance Group
Chubb GroupCincinnati Insurance Group*
CSE Insurance Group
The Doctors Company
Erie Insurance Group
Federated Mutual GroupFirst Insurance Company of Hawaii, LTD
FM Global
Franklin Mutual Insurance Group
GEICO*
Goodville Mutual Casualty CompanyGuideOne Insurance
HCC Insurance Holdings Group
IDS Property Casualty Insurance Company
Island Insurance Companies Group
Jewelers Mutual Insurance CompanyLancer Insurance Company
The Main Street America Group
Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insur. Co.
Nodak Mutual Insurance Company
North Star Mutual Insurance CompanyOhio Mutual Insurance Group
Pacific Specialty Insurance Company
Philadelphia Insurance Companies
Preferred Mutual Insurance Company
ProAssuranceProgressive Insurance Group
Coverys (formerly ProMutual Group)
RLI Insurance Group*
Rural Mutual Insurance Company
Safety Insurance Group
Travelers Insurance Group
USAA Group*
Vermont Mutual Insurance Company
W.R. Berkley Corporation Group
Western National Insurance Group