Our friends at Property Casualty 360 have a great article on their site today about how 2014 will be the best year in the P&C industry since the great recession hit. Here are a few snippets from the article:
– Driven by lower catastrophe losses and higher premiums, profitability in the private U.S. property and casualty insurers’ market rose sharply in the third quarter.
– The results led Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, to say that they put the industry on a “firm trajectory” for what will “assuredly be its best year in the post-crisis era.”
– According to data released by ISO and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), net income after taxes rose to $43 billion in nine-months 2013, from $27.8 billion in the same period of 2012.
– ISO and PCI say P&C insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their annualized rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus increased to 9.5 percent from 6.5 percent.
– Hartwig adds that there now is “no question” that 2013 fourth-quarter performance for the property and casualty insurance industry “will be far superior” to 2012.
– He explained that will happen because last year’s fourth quarter includes the impacts of Hurricane Sandy, which resulted in $18.8 billion in insured catastrophe losses. “No event in the fourth quarter of 2013 comes remotely close,” Hartwig saus.
– In addition, he says P&C insurers will benefit from a strong performance in financial markets during the final quarter of the year. You can read the full article courtesy of Property Casualty 360 here.
