@Wikimedia Commons.
This week’s latest quarterly results for insurers across the globe reveal more positive numbers for most, with many seeing a bounce from bullish market conditions.
Berkshire Hathaway, which owns The Hartford and US auto insurer Geico, said its insurance-investment income for Q1 2024 was $2.598 billion compared to $1.969 billion in Q1 2023.
Underwriting income was $2.598 billion, as well, compared to $911 million in Q1 2023.
It added that in 2023 investment gains also included a net remeasurement gain of approximately $2.4 billion related to Berkshire’s acquisition of an additional 41.4% ownership interest in Pilot Travel Centers.
French giant AXA said its gross written premiums and other revenues were up 6% to €34 billion.
AXA Investment Managers saw revenues of €385 in Q1 2024 compared to €375 million in the previous year, which is a 3% increase on a reported basis.
“AXA achieved a very good performance in the first quarter of 2024”, said Alban de Mailly Nesle, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of AXA in the company’s press release. “We delivered strong organic revenue growth across the Group, consistent with our new strategic plan presented earlier this year. The Group also continued to operate with strong capital levels with a Solvency II ratio at 229% at the end of March, reflecting our capital generation capacity.”
One of the US’s biggest P&C insurers, Progressive, said its quarterly results showed strong increases year-on-year.
Net premiums earned increased from $13.5 billion in Q1 2023 to $16.1 billion in Q1 this year.
Investment income increased from $419.6 million in Q1 2023 to $617.6 million this year.
Net income (after tax) was $2.33 billion compared to $447.9 million in Q1 2023.
In Q3 last year, Progressive saw net income of $1.12 billion for Q3 2023, compared to $124.1 million for the period in 2022. For September, the company swung from $684.4 million loss in 2022, to $369.3 million in income for 2023, a 154% change.
New Jersey-based regional P&C carrier Selective Insurance said its after-tax net investment income was $86 million, up 17% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
“Pre-tax investment income from the fixed income securities portfolio increased 17% compared to the first quarter of 2023,” said the company’s press release. “For the quarter, the after-tax income yield averaged 3.9% for the overall portfolio and 4.0% for the fixed income securities portfolio.”
Its net premiums written increased 16% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Hanover Insurance Group said it increased net investment income by 14% to $89.7 million in Q1, helped by investment of cash flow and higher new money yields. “As we continue to drive our organisation forward, we have a strong line of sight to delivering on our long-term return on equity target of 14% or higher,” said John Roche, President and CEO.
The company’s press release also listed higher bond reinvestment rates, higher partnership income, and the continued investment of operational cashflows as reasons for increases in investment income.
Net premiums written increased by 2.3% for the Massachusetts-based company.
Net investment income for the Bermuda-domiciled insurer, International General Insurance (IGI), was $15.4 million in Q1 2024, compared to $12.4 million in 2023.
Gross written premiums were $181.6 million for Q1 2024 compared to $173.9 million in Q1 2023.
“IGI had a very positive start to 2024, posting another excellent set of financial results for the first quarter,” said Waleed Jabsheh, President and CEO. “While market conditions are more mixed than a year ago, we continue to benefit from the strong foundations that we’ve laid over recent quarters and years to position our company for continued success.”
“Underwriting income [was] up more than 30% and a lower level of losses in the first quarter, we posted a healthy 74.1% combined ratio,” he said. “These underwriting results, coupled with significantly improved investment results, resulted in net income of $37.9 million, a 27.6% annualised return on average equity, and a 29.2% annualised core operating return on average equity.”
The rise in investment income was “partially offset by higher net foreign exchange loss and general and administrative expenses”, said the press release. Return on average equity (annualised) was 27.6% for the first quarter of 2024 compared to 32.2% for the first quarter of 2023.
North Carolina-based Brighthouse reported a net loss available to shareholders of $519 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared with a net loss available to shareholders of $525 million in the first quarter of 2023, making it a rare outlier.
For its annuities segment, on a quarter-over-quarter basis, adjusted earnings were relatively flat. On a sequential basis, adjusted earnings reflect higher fees and lower expenses, partially offset by lower net investment income.
Net investment income was $1,254 million, and adjusted net investment income was $1.267 million in the current quarter. Comparatively, Q1 2023’s adjusted net investment income increased $170 million on a quarter-over-quarter basis and $41 million sequentially. The quarter-over-quarter increase was primarily driven by alternative investment income, asset growth and higher interest rates. The sequential increase was primarily driven by alternative investment income and asset growth.
The net investment income yield was 4.25% during the quarter.
This time last year, Brighthouse reported a net loss available to shareholders of $525 million in Q1 2023 with net income available to shareholders of $1,558 million in Q1 2022.
Specialty insurer United Fire Group (UFG Insurance) said its net income of $13.5 million in Q1 2024 increased compared to the first quarter of 2023 and was driven by underwriting income and higher investment income.
The Iowa-based company said its net investment income of $16.3 million increased 28.5% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
“I am pleased with our first quarter results as net income increased to $13.5 million driven by improved underwriting results and higher investment income,” said President and CEO Kevin Leidwinger.
“Net investment income increased as we continued to benefit from reinvesting at higher interest rates,” he said. He added that in the first quarter of 2024, UFG completed the strategic reallocation of public equity assets into fixed maturities and transitioned management of their investment portfolio to New England Asset Management. As part of this, the investment team was outsourced.
You can read more from their former Chief Investment Officer, Robert Cataldo, here.
Canadian holding firm Intact Financial Corporation that owns several insurance brands, including P&C insurer RSA Insurance, said its operating net investment income was $380 million for Q1 2024, compared to $295 million for Q1 2023, an increase of 29%.
The company said in its press release that this “[reflected] higher reinvestment yields and increased turnover of our portfolio over the last 12 months”.
Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc. (LMHC) and its subsidiaries reported net income attributable of $1.535 billion for Q1 2024, versus a net loss attributable of $74 million for the same period in 2023.
Boston-based Liberty Mutual, one of the US’s largest P&C carriers with extensive retail operations as well as commercial operations, said its total net written premiums were $10.95 billion for the quarter compared to $11.15 for 2023, a drop of 1.8%.
The company’s limited partnerships income was $159 million for the quarter, compared to a loss of $84 million in Q1 last year.
“For the first quarter, we reported net income attributable of $1.5 billion driven by strong core underwriting results and a $663 million after-tax benefit from the gain on the sale of our GRM West Operations,” said Tim Sweeney, President and CEO. “Underwriting results continue to improve, with a 2.8-point improvement in the underlying loss ratio to 62.1% for the first quarter driven by rate execution and other underwriting actions.”
Further results will be released in the coming weeks...
