Aon plc has released the list of Ward's 50® top-performing insurance companies for 2019, identifying U.S. companies that have achieved superior financial performance...
Ward benchmarking is the leading operational and compensation benchmarking and best practices service for insurance companies.
Key highlights from the list include:
- The Ward’s 50 property-casualty group of insurance companies produced an 11.6 percent statutory return on average equity from 2014 to 2018, compared to 7.6 percent for the property-casualty industry overall.
- The Ward’s 50 life-health group of insurance companies produced an 18.5 percent statutory return on average equity from 2014 to 2018, compared to 9.1 percent for the life-health industry overall.
In addition to achieving greater levels of income, the Ward’s 50 companies also outperformed in other key benchmarks:
- The Ward’s 50 life-health group of companies outpaced the industry for five-year policyholder surplus growth (14.4 percent compared to 11.8 percent) and revenue growth (21.4 percent compared to -6.4 percent).
- The Ward’s 50 property-casualty group was 6.2 percentage points lower for the five-year combined ratio (93.4 percent compared to the industry’s 99.6 percent) and grew policyholder surplus by 19.7 percent compared to 10.1 percent for the industry for the five-year period since 2014.
- Net premiums written for the Ward’s 50 property-casualty group grew 35.3 percent compared to the industry’s 23.0 percent growth.
“Although financial conditions improved in 2018, the insurance industry faces dynamic disruptions and a rapidly changing business environment. The operating model of the insurance industry has transformed significantly over the past decade,” said Jeff Rieder, partner and head of Ward benchmarking at Aon. “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.”
The Ward’s 50 benchmark group also continues to achieve lower expense ratios:
- In 2018, expenses relative to revenue were 9.3 percent lower for the Ward’s 50 property-casualty group of companies and 28.1 percent lower for the Ward’s 50 life-health group, compared to the industry.
For a complete list of the 2019 Ward’s 50 companies, or to order a Ward’s 50 report comparing an individual company’s results to the Ward's 50 benchmarks for select metrics, go to ward.aon.com/ward-benchmarking/wards50.
