Ward Group, provider of benchmarking and best practices services to the insurance industry, has announced the 2012 Ward’s 50 top performing property/casualty insurers.
The Ward’s 50 produced a 9.9-percent statutory return on average equity from 2008 to 2012, compared to 4.9 percent for the P&C industry overall. Each Ward's 50 company has passed all safety and consistency screens and achieved superior performance over the five years analyzed. This is the 23rd year Ward Group has conducted the analysis.
“After several years of weaker revenue gain and sluggish economic conditions, financial returns for insurers improved in 2012,” said Jeff Rieder, partner and head of Ward Group. “Most insurance sectors are experiencing revenue growth and insurance companies appear more optimistic as they look toward the future. Total policyholder surplus continues to grow and overall financial stability for the industry remains very strong. In selecting the Ward’s 50, we identified companies that pass financial stability requirements and measure their ability to grow while maintaining strong capital positions and underwriting results.”
In addition to achieving higher levels of income returns, the Ward’s 50 benchmarks also outperformed in other key performance benchmarks, Wards said. The P&C group compared 9.6 points lower for the five-year combined ratio, 94.6 percent compared to 104.2 percent, and grew policyholder surplus by 11.2 percent compared to 6.0 percent for the industry since 2008. Net premiums written for the Ward’s 50 grew 16.9 percent compared to the industry’s 8.2 percent growth. The Ward’s 50 benchmark continued to achieve lower expense ratios.
“The expense ratio declined slightly in 2012 for both the life-health and property/casualty industries and we still find the Ward’s 50 benchmarks comparing better than the industry average.” Rieder said. Expenses relative to revenue were 9.3 percent lower for the Ward’s 50 P&C group in 2012.
Ward's 50 P&C Companies - 2013
ACE American Insurance Company
ACUITY
Alaska National Insurance Company
Alleghany Group
American Financial Group
AMERISAFE
Assurant Group
Auto Club Enterprises Insurance Group
Bear River Mutual Insurance Company
Century-National Insurance Company
Chubb Group
Cincinnati Insurance Group
Coverys
The Doctors Company
Eastern Alliance Insurance Group
Erie Insurance Group
Federated Mutual Group
First Insurance Company of Hawaii LTD
Franklin Mutual Insurance Group
GEICO
Goodville Mutual Casualty Company
GuideOne Insurance Company
HCC Insurance Holdings Group
Island Insurance Companies
Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company
Lackawanna Casualty Company
Lancer Insurance Company
The Main Street America Group
Markel Corporation Group
Metropolitan Property and Casualty Insurance Company
Munich Reinsurance America Inc.
Nodak Mutual Insurance Company
North Star Mutual Insurance Company
Ohio Mutual Insurance Group
Pacific Specialty Insurance Company
Philadelphia Insurance Companies
ProAssurance
Progressive Insurance Group
RLI Insurance Company
Rural Mutual Insurance Company
Safety Insurance Group
Texas Mutual Insurance Company
Travelers Insurance Group
United Educators
USAA Group
Utica First Insurance Company
Vermont Mutual Insurance Company
W.R. Berkley Corporation
Western Mutual Insurance Group
Western National Insurance Group
Ward Group analyzed the financial performance of more than 3,000 P&C insurers in the United States and identified top performers based on objective data and subjective quality measures.
Safety and Consistency Tests
Insurers must pass minimum thresholds to be considered for the Ward’s 50 designation, including:
Surplus and premiums of at least $50 million for each of the five years analyzed
Net income in at least four of the last five years (property-casualty)
Adjusted net income in at least four of the last five years (life-health)
Compound annual growth in premiums between -10 percent and +40 percent
Performance Measurements
Wards said companies that pass the safety and consistency tests are measured and scored on the following elements:
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
For last year’s results,
To see the 2013 life/health list,
