First-half profits improved for U.S. property/casualty insurers
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U.S. property/casualty insurers' second quarter net income rose 5.8% from that of the same period in 2014 to $12.83 billion, Verisk Analytics' ISO unit and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America reported Wednesday.
Second quarter net written premiums rose 4.4% year-over-year to $130.59 billion. The industry's combined ratio improved to 99.4% from 100.6% a year earlier. Net investment gains, however, dropped 5.2% from the same period in 2014 to $15.23 billion.
The results were based on consolidated estimates for all private property/casualty insurers based on reports accounting for at least 96% of all business written by private U.S. property/casualty insurers.
For the six months ending June 30, the industry's net income grew 19.2% year-over-year to $30.98 billion. Net written premiums increased 4.1% over those of the same period of 2014 to $256.69 billion while the combined ratio improved to 97.6% from 98.9%.
For the first half of 2015 improved investment income played a key role in the industry's performance.
“Insurers' net investment income increased to $23.4 billion in the first half of 2015 from $23.0 billion a year earlier, and insurers' realized capital gains increased to $8.2 billion from $7.2 billion, resulting in $31.6 billion in net investment gains for first-half 2015,” wrote Beth Fitzgerald, president of ISO Solutions, and Robert Gordon, senior vice president, policy development and research at PCI. “The net investment gains were the highest first-half investment gains since the beginning of ISO's quarterly records in 1986, and the realized capital gains were the highest since the $8.5 billion recorded for 1998.”
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