CINCINNATI, July 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The list of
Ward's 50® top performing insurance companies was released by Ward
Group, a part of Aon plc (NYSE:AON) and the leading provider of
operational and compensation benchmarking and best practices
services for insurance companies.
The Ward's 50 property-casualty group of insurance companies
produced an 11.4 percent statutory return on average equity from
2012 to 2016, compared to 8.4 percent for the property-casualty
industry overall. The Ward's 50 life-health group of insurance
companies produced a 17.5 percent statutory return on average
equity from 2012 to 2016, compared to 9.6 percent for the
life-health industry overall.
"Low investment returns, rising loss costs, and competitive
market conditions continue to impact financial returns for the
industry. 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," said Jeff Rieder, partner
and head of Ward Group.
In addition to achieving greater levels of income returns, the
Ward's 50 benchmarks also outperformed in other key performance
benchmarks:
- The Ward's 50 life-health group of companies outpaced the
industry for five-year policyholder surplus growth (19.8 percent
compared to 16.0 percent) and net premium income growth (10.8
percent compared to 0.9 percent).
- The Ward's 50 property-casualty group compared 6.4 points lower
for the five-year combined ratio (92.6 percent compared to 99.0
percent) and grew policyholder surplus by 30.9 percent compared to
20.6 percent for the industry since 2012.
- Net premiums written for the Ward's 50 property-casualty group
grew 30.1 percent compared to the industry's 16.6 percent
growth.
The Ward's 50 benchmark group also continues to achieve lower
expense ratios. "The expense ratio decreased slightly in 2016 for
the property-casualty but increased for the life-health benchmark.
We still find the Ward's 50 benchmarks comparing better than the
industry average," said Rieder.
In 2016, expenses relative to revenue were 9.3 percent lower for
the Ward's 50 property-casualty group of companies and 10.0 percent
lower for the Ward's 50 life-health group.
For a complete list of the 2017 Ward's 50 companies, visit
www.wardinc.com. To order a Ward's 50 comparison report comparing
an individual company's results to the Ward's 50 benchmarks for
select metrics, go to www.wardinc.com.
About the Ward's Top 50
To develop its annual list of the top 50 performing insurance
companies, Ward Group analyzes the financial performance of nearly
3,000 property-casualty insurance companies and more than 700
life-health insurance companies domiciled in the United States, identifying the top
performers in each segment based on objective data and subjective
quality measures. Each company has passed all safety and
consistency screens and achieved superior performance over the five
years analyzed. This is the 27th consecutive year Ward Group has
conducted the analysis.
Safety and Consistency Tests
Insurance companies are evaluated and must pass minimum
thresholds to be considered for the Ward's 50 designation. Each
company must pass primary safety and consistency tests,
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
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 Average Combined Ratio (property-casualty)
- Five-Year Growth in Surplus
About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global
professional services firm providing a broad range of risk,
retirement and health solutions. Our 50,000 colleagues in 120
countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and
analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve
performance.
Follow Aon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aon_plc
Sign up for News
Alerts: http://aon.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=58
About Ward Group
Ward Group is the leading provider
of benchmarking and best practices studies for the insurance
industry. The firm analyzes staff levels, compensation, business
practices, and expenses for all areas of company operations and
helps insurers to measure results compared to peer groups, optimize
performance, and improve profitability. Ward Group is part of Aon
plc (NYSE: AON). For more information, please visit
wardinc.com.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ward-group-reveals-its-wards-50-list-of-top-performing-insurance-companies-for-2017-300489380.html
SOURCE Aon plc