Berkshire Hathaway Ranked 3rd as “Most Admired”

While Aretha Franklin and Rodney Dangerfield seem to be the most well-known when it comes to vocalizing their feelings on the topic of "respect," FORTUNE magazine has staked a claim on its synonym: "admiration." And, come to find out, insurers are relatively well admired among their corporate peers.

FORTUNE this week released its 2011 list of the World's Most Admired Companies. The ranking lists the 350 most admired companies, based on survey results—conducted by global management consulting firm Hay Group—from 1,400 global companies, and the findings were further refined from there.

According to the rankings, insurance giant Berkshire Hathaway is regarded as the No. 3 overall most admired country on the list, charting behind just Apple (No. 1) and Google (No. 2). However, no other insurers cracked the top 50.

Another insurer, Aflac, is no stranger to FORTUNE’s list.

"We are honored to be rated among the world's most admired companies for the 10th time, and pleased to be recognized as a leader in the insurance industry; especially in the area of innovation," Aflac chairman and CEO Dan Amos said in a statement.

The Columbus, Ga.-based carrier was ranked No. 3 among life/health companies.

When broken down by industry, a number of insurance companies received relatively high marks.

Following is a list of most admired insurers in the property/casualty industry:

Rank     Company     Overall score

1.     Berkshire Hathaway     6.88

2.     Zurich Financial Services     6.42

3.     Travelers Cos.     5.99

4.     Allianz     5.96

5.     Tokio Marine Holdings     5.91

6.     Swiss Reinsurance     5.88

7.     Munich Re Group     5.83

8.     State Farm Insurance     5.59

FORTUNE also released the following "contenders" to the above list:

Rank     Company     Overall score

9.       Allstate     5.56

10.     Liberty Mutual Insurance Group     5.40

11.     Hartford Financial Services     5.13

12.     MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings     5.00

13.     People's Insurance Co.     4.81

14.     Mapfre Group     4.75

15.     Groupama     4.73

16.     American International Group     4.43

Additionally, FORTUNE's ranked the most admired insurers in the life/health industry:

 Rank     Company     Overall score

1.     Northwestern Mutual     6.45

2.     Prudential Financial     6.39

3.     Aflac     6.37

4.     MetLife     6.26

5.     New York Life Insurance     6.06

6.     Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance     5.83

7.     AXA     5.66

8.     Manulife Financial     5.49

9.     TIAA-CREF     5.37

FORTUNE also released the following "contenders" to the above list:

Rank     Company     Overall score

10.     Nippon Life Insurance     5.31

11.     Prudential plc     5.17

12.     Aegon     5.12

13.     Samsung Life Insurance     5.05

14.     Cathay Life Insurance     4.94

15.     Assicurazioni Generali     4.84

16.     Aviva     4.83

17.     Legal & General Group     4.71

To see the full lists, click here.