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The Top 25 Property/Casualty Insurance Writers

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No, neither Johnathan Franzen nor myself made the list. We’re talking about the companies that wrote the most business in 2010. Here’s the full list of the top 25 U.S. carriers in terms of net premiums written, according to AM Best.

1. State Farm Group—$50,808,635
2. Allstate Insurance Group—$24,796,656
3. Liberty Mutual Insurance Cos.—$21,483,996
4. Berkshire Hathaway Insurance—$21,358,316
5. Travelers Group—$20,594,458
6. American International Group—$19,687,720
7. Nationwide Group—$14,489,531
8. Progressive Insurance Group—$14,476,676
9. Farmers Insurance Group—$14,129,512
10. USAA Group—$10,679,414
11. Hartford Insurance Group—$9,688,760
12. Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.—$8,927,736
13. CNA Insurance Cos.—$6,188,618
14. American Family Insurance Group—$5,324,290
15. Allianz of America—$4,666,301
16. Auto-Owners Insurance Group—$4,485,442
17. Munich-America Holding Corp.—$4,413,834
18. Zurich Financial Services NA Group—$4,400,123
19. Erie Insurance Group—$4,019,273
20. Ace INA Group—$3,705,475
21. Transatlantic Holdings Inc. Group—$3,418,020
22. W.R. Berkley Group—$3,392,330
23. The Hanover Insurance Group Property & Casualty Cos.—$3,053,508
24. MetLife Auto & Home Group—$2,983,236
25. Cincinnati Insurance Cos.—$2,965,462

The Most Influential People in Corporate Governance

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Each year, the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) publishes the Directorship 100 — a “combination of leading corporate directors, corporate governance practitioners and public policy leaders who are recognized as the most influential people in the boardroom and the corporate governance arena.”

The NACD Directorship surveyed 15,000 public company directors and executives to form the final 100 honorees.

“The esteemed boardroom leaders on the Directorship 100 share a common characteristic as proactive agents of change in the boardroom community, shaping the future of corporate governance at a time when American business looks to restore investor confidence and restore economic growth,” said NACD CEO and President Ken Daly.

Among the top 100 honored are a select group of D&O insurers and governance advisors, including:

  • Robert C. Cox, Chubb Group
  • Mark Lamendola, Travelers
  • Timothy J. O’Donnell, ACE USA
  • Daniel W. Riordan, Zurich Financial Services
  • Michael W. Smith, Chartis
  • Richard A. Bennett, The Corporate Library
  • Gavin Anderson, GovernanceMetrics International
  • Steve Harvey, Martha Carter, Carol Bowie, Patrick S. McGurn, ISS Governance Services
  • Robert McCormick, Glass Lewis & Co.

The association noted that it has seen a shift in the type of leader exerting the most influence on corporate governance. For the first time, professionals in the “regulators and rule makers” category received the most nominations.

New Option for Gulf State Homeowners Insurance

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Usually when we discuss news of homeowners’ insurance in Florida and other hurricane-prone areas, it is to report how yet another insurer has pulled up stakes and decided to stop writing policies in the region. But yesterday’s announcement from Travelers that they will begin a pilot program to write policies in Certain Atlantic and Gulf states bucks that trend. The news came as part of an initiative to raise awareness of catastrophe preparedness that was started by The Travelers Institute, a kind of think tank group created by Travelers to further the discussion of public policy topics of particular importance to the insurance community. 

The pilot program brings Travelers into the homeowners’ insurance market in these high-risk areas, but with an important condition — the company will be writing policies for those homes that meet specific natural disaster resistant building standards. As an added incentive, qualifying homes will be eligible for a 35% hurricane premium credit.

Eric Nelson, Travelers’ vice president of personal insurance, explained that the company wants to educate consumers about the value of these standards, which include recommendations for reinforced concrete framing, wind-resistant roofs and impact-resistant glass, so that they ask for these features when building or retrofitting a home.

“Homes built to meet these stringent standards are better able to withstand severe weather, reducing property losses and saving lives, and we want to promote and raise awareness of these smarter building practices,” said Nelson. “Building stronger homes is a key principle of the Travelers Coastal Hurricane Wind Zone Plan, our proposal to improve the availability and affordability of catastrophic wind coverage in communities along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. We hope this initiative and meaningful premium credit will encourage homeowners, builders and building officials to adopt these disaster resistant standards.”

For homeowners in high-risk areas, Travelers’ program seem like a reasonable alternative to state-run pools and exorbitantly high premiums. Of course, it will take some effort (and money) to meet these fortification standards but in the end it is about managing the risk proactively, which can’t be all bad. And with so many insurers choosing to leave these states, perhaps programs like this will give insurers the incentive to come back and hopefully bring lower insurance premiums with them.