Industry Overview Property And Casualty Insurance Companies

This report reviews the key features and public policy issues regarding the property & casualty insurance industry in Canada. It begins with an overview of the business and structure of the industry: the nature and composition of the property and casualty business, the industry in the context of the Canadian financial services sector, financial structure, and regulation of the industry. It then discusses the following issues: the financial capacity of the industry to handle claims resulting from a major earthquake; the likelihood of major industry consolidation; potential changes in the industry's distribution system in the near future; and the impact of technology in general.

The Economics of Property-Casualty Insurance presents new research and findings on key aspects of the economics of the property-casualty insurance industry. The volume explores the industrial organization, regulation, financing, and taxation of this business. The first paper, on external financing and insurance cycles, contains a wealth of information on trends and patterns in the industry's financial structure. The last essay, which compares performance of stock and mutual insurance companies, takes a fresh look at the way a company's organizational structure affects its responses to different economic situations. Two papers focus on rate regulation in the auto insurance industry, and provide broad overviews of the structure and economics of the insurance industry as a whole. Also addressed are the system of regulating insurance companies in the United States, who insures the insurers, and the effects of tax law changes in the 1980s on the prices of insurance policies.

During the last decade, the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry underwent considerable consolidation, which has resulted in a smaller number of non-government companies serving a larger share of the industry's market. After describing the industry's role, characteristics, financial performance, and importance to the overall economy, this article examines motivations for and evidence of consolidation in the property and casualty insurance industry between 1988 and early 2001. Findings include moderate financial growth overall despite a steady decrease in the number of licensed companies in the industry. The overall decrease in the number of companies is due more to market exits than mergers or amalgamations. Nevertheless, ownership changes have also increased the concentration of market share under the largest groups of affiliated insurance companies.

Covers the following areas: overview of the P&C industry; organizational structure of P&C insurers: stock & mutual companies; value drivers in the P&C business; financial reporting requirements for P&C insurers & major financial statements; capital management; GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) insurance accounting principles; statutory (STAT) accounting principles; rating agencies & ratio analysis. The book uses the actual GAAP and STAT financial statements of Travelers Insurance Company as well as excerpts from the A.M. Best rating report for Travelers to illustrate the concepts and analysis.--P. [4] of cover.

An in-depth look at the increasingly significant convergence between the insurance industry and the capital markets. This important publication, by two premier financial experts, explores the unique convergence of finance and insurance. The book covers the basics of property-casualty insurance, securitizing insurance risks, looks at life insurance in the United States and ALM in insurance. It addresses the questions and concerns of investment banks, brokerage firms and the insurance/reinsurance sector itself, examines ongoing trends and issues, and how current market pressures on insurance companies do not just create challenges but actually point the way to future promising developments.