PCI
P/C insurers rebound in fourth quarter of 2011Posted by RJ and Makay on Apr 18, 2012 |
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Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income fell to $19.1 billion in 2011, down from $35.2 billion in 2010, according to Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Despite the deteriorating results, the industry ended the year with strong forth-quarter performance. Insurers’ overall profitability, as measured by the rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus, fell to 3.5% in 2011 from 6.6% in 2010.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering industry demands to exempt insurance companies from the Volcker rule, a provision spawned by the Dodd-Frank Act that prohibits financial institutions from certain types of speculative investing. Insurers may face severe financial stress unless the exemption is granted, according to industry trade associations.
Health insurers are the largest lobbying spenders, as the property/casualty side and life insurers continue to invest in influencing Dodd-Frank reform implementation. In the first half of 2011, total insurance industry spending on federal lobbying reached $77.3 million, a pace slightly behind the $157.9 million reported for all of 2010, according to data by the independent Center for Responsive Politics and the U.S. Senate Office of Public Records.
