Wisconsin: More Than Cheese and Harley Davidsons

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 census estimated the Wisconsin’s population at 5,363,675. About 85 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and about 22 percent had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. The capital, Madison, has a population of 208,054.

From an employment perspective, the primary industries in Wisconsin are:

From a property/casualty insurance perspective, Wisconsin accounted for $7 billion of direct written premium. Countrywide as of Sept. 30, 2003, the aggregate was $313 billion. Wisconsin’s calendar-year 2002 loss ratio of 64.8 percent was slightly above the countrywide year-to-date Sept. 30, 2003, loss ratio of 62.3 percent. It was interesting to note that Wisconsin’s homeowners’ loss ratio for calendar-year 2002 was 64.1 percent, compared to the countrywide average at Sept. 30, 2003 of 61.8 percent. Homeowners’ insurance premium comprised 9 percent of the P/C premium written in Wisconsin. Homeowners’ premium comprised 10.7 percent of the premium written countrywide.

What surprised me the most was that Wisconsin farmowners’ insurance premium for calendar-year 2002 was $95 million. I expected it to be more. However, in a state with 25,725 farming, fishing and forestry employees, perhaps that is about right.

The Wisconsin populace is well-educated and the state economy is poised for growth. The employed civilian population comprises half of Wisconsin’s population. It was distributed as follows:

Given the anticipated growth in the number of jobs located in Wisconsin and the diversification of the Wisconsin economy, I would expect the growth rate of Wisconsin’s P/C insurance marketplace, as measured by direct premium written, to exceed the growth rate experienced on a countrywide basis.

Joseph L. Petrelli is president and founder of Columbus, Ohio-based Demotech Inc., a financial analysis and actuarial services firm. Petrelli is a member of the Casualty Actuarial Society, American Academy of Actuaries and the Conference of Actuaries in Public Practice. Additional information can be found at
www.demotech.com.