Mild-mannered report
If some politicians can be accused of engaging in “fuzzy” math, some property/casualty insurers might be said to practice fuzzy marketing. They call themselves “super regionals,” yet everyone has a different idea of what that means.
Insurance Journal wanted to help clarify exactly what a super regional insurer is. So with our first special report on “Super Regional Property Casualty Insurers” (see page N19), we began the search for the best objective measurement of super regional for the industry.
Insurance Journal has its Clark Kents but none with enough expertise in the financials of insurers to pull off this assignment alone. So we turned to our mild-mannered actuaries: our official research partner Demotech Inc. of Columbus, Ohio.
Actuarial services firm Demotech moved faster than a speeding bullet and leapt several tall buildings with a single bound, not only coming up with a definition for super regionals but also creating a classification system for the entire universe of property/casualty insurers. The Demotech Company Classification System includes nationals, near nationals, super regionals, regionals, state specialists, coverage specialists, strategic specialists, risk retention groups, surplus lines, reinsurers and mini-companies (less than $1 million in direct written premium).
The “Super Regional Property Casualty Insurers” report explains the criteria used to define the category and was based on objective analysis. The companies that made the list are not necessarily superior, but they are super in the sense of having the resources to write multiple lines and reach across multiple states.
Bigger isn’t always better as many smaller insurers are quick to remind their agents and customers. The identification of this year’s “Super Regional Property Casualty Insurers” report is meant to bring attention to the companies and not meant to slight others that have their own niches and success stories. Indeed, a company not on the Super Regional list will likely find itself featured in future Insurance Journal issues that will salute state specialists, regionals, coverage specialists and others in the Demotech scheme.
Nevertheless, we hope this report sparks a discussion on the role of super regionals and on the criteria used. We invite corrections, where appropriate, and suggestions on how the criteria might be adjusted in the future. And we fully expect that some companies could be dropped and new ones added in future listings as the search for super regionals continues.
If you have feedback on this report, send your comments by e-mail to jpetrelli @demotech.com or asimpson@insurancejournal.com. Please leave the phone booths free for Clark Kent.