The list of top 50 insurance companies Ward’s performance was released by Ward Group, an operational consulting firm and leading provider of benchmarking and best practices services to the insurance industry.
Annually, Ward Group evaluates the financial performance of over 3,100 property and casualty insurance companies and over 800 life insurance companies health domiciled in the United States and identifies the best results of each segment. This group is called the neighborhood of 50 per year. Each Ward’s 50 company has passed all safety and consistency screens and achieved superior performance over the five years studied. The Ward’s 50 property-group insurance for damage produced a yield of 14.4% on average from 2004 to 2008 compared to 9.9% for the property industry overall accident. The Ward’s 50 life-health group insurance companies produced a return of 13.5% on average from 2004 to 2008, compared to 6.4% for life, health industry overall.
The last 18 months have been a period of instability in the insurance industry for companies in many different ways. “The volatility in portfolio investment, the economy and the competitive landscape has forced companies to evaluate a large number of their business strategies,” explains Jeff Rieder, President of Ward Group. “By choosing to Ward’s 50, we identify companies that pass the requirements of financial stability and measure their ability to grow while maintaining strong capital position and the underwriting results. “