ACORD Unveils Whitepaper Detailing Value Created By U.S. Property & Casualty Insurers

PR Newswire

PEARL RIVER, N.Y., March 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, today announced findings from the ACORD U.S. Property and Casualty Value Creation Study. The study, which demonstrates that the gap between value-producing carriers and value destroyers has grown dramatically, found that 84 percent of insurers created value, while 16 percent did not achieve minimum level of required value creation.

The study also showed that more than $230 billion in value was created during the ten-year span evaluated (2006-2016) in the U.S. Property & Casualty space, with those companies generating value (84) vastly outnumbering those who destroyed value (16). This represents a departure from previous editions of the study in which the number of value creating and destroying insurers was more evenly distributed.

"Several factors contributed to this shift, including increased focus on underwriting profit, digitization, and the constantly changing macroeconomic conditions," said Bill Pieroni, President and CEO, ACORD. "Increased alignment between strategic intent and capabilities is the key differentiating factor separating sustainable value creators from destroyers. We are finally seeing the true impact of decades of technology investment on results."

Additional Study Highlights
The study also yielded a number of industry highlights, including:

Of those who created value, fifty-eight percent sustained it over time. How? Investment income accounted for two-thirds of value generated by sustainable value creators, but they also created significant value through underwriting activities. The "hollow value creators" identified in the study, on the other hand, would have fallen into the value destruction category if not for recovery in the capital markets.
Publicly traded, value-creating P&C carriers were also found to return twice the average of the S&P 500 over the study period.
The delineation between value producers and destroyers cuts both ways. From 2006 to 2016, the U.S. Property and Casualty insurers created around $230 billion in value. However, among the top 100 P&C insurers, just sixteen companies destroyed more value than the next 44 companies … combined.
The ACORD U.S. Property and Casualty Value Creation Study illustrates some common traits high-performing carriers shared, including superior execution across four areas of strategic focus—customer, product, innovation, and operational excellence.

Methodology
Based on the annual statutory filings of the top 100 U.S. property-casualty insurers, this study employs a sophisticated and proprietary methodology to determine the amount of value generated by each carrier, while identifying the source of value generated through both underwriting and investment activities. Crucial factors like business and channel strategy, premium-and-product mix, digital maturity, and operating expenses are also examined.
ACORD members can download a copy of the whitepaper by visiting www.acord.org or contacting [email protected].

About ACORD Corporation
ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is the global standards-setting body for the insurance and related financial services industries. ACORD facilitates fast, accurate data exchange, and efficient workflows through the development of electronic standards, standardized forms, and tools to support their use. ACORD members worldwide include hundreds of insurance and reinsurance companies, agents and brokers, software providers, financial services organizations and industry associations. ACORD maintains offices in New York and London. Learn more at www.acord.org.