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Aon study reveals top 50 US insurers

The top 50 US property and casualty insurers achieve above-average return on equity and control costs better than the overall industry, according to Aon-owned Ward Group.

Ward’s list of the leading insurers domiciled in the US produced a combined operating ratio of 92.6% for the 2012-16 period, lower than the wider industry’s 99%.

“Low investment returns, rising loss costs and competitive market conditions continue to impact financial returns for the industry,” Ward Group Partner and Head Jeff Rieder said.

“In selecting the Ward’s 50, we identified companies that pass financial stability requirements and measured their ability to grow while maintaining strong capital positions and underwriting results.”

The top 50 produced an 11.4% return on equity, above the industry’s 8.4%, and their net written premium grew 30.1% compared with 16.6% for the industry.

Expenses relative to revenue last year were 9.3% lower among the top 50.

Ward analysed almost 3000 insurers. The shortlist includes WR Berkley, HCC Insurance Holdings Group, Chubb, Geico and Munich Re America.