Fixed-income holdings lead P/C assets' rise.The property/casualty insurance industry recorded a $110.4 billion (9.4%) increase in total admitted assets during 2004. The vast majority of the increase, $80.1 billion (72.6%), was attributable attributable emanating from or pertaining to attribute. attributable proportion see attributable risk (below). attributable risk to the nominal Trifling, token, or slight; not real or substantial; in name only. Nominal capital, for example, refers to extremely small or negligible funds, the use of which in a particular business is incidental. NOMINAL. Relating to a name. dollar increase in consolidated con·sol·i·date v. con·sol·i·dat·ed, con·sol·i·dat·ing, con·sol·i·dates v.tr. 1. To unite into one system or whole; combine: fixed-income portfolios. The nonaffiliated equity portfolios also experienced a material increase of $14.6 billion (13.2%) in value. A significant shift in asset composition occurred in 2004. Fixed-income portfolios increased to 56.3% of total admitted assets for 2004, compared with 54.7% for 2003. Also of note during 2004 was the increase in equity portfolios, which at the end of the year represented 11.0% of total admitted assets, compared with 10.8% for 2003. Gross yield on invested assets continued to decline in 2004, experiencing a 0.5% drop compared with 2003 and a 1.0% drop compared with 2002. The trend noted in 2003, which was a 20% increase in the cash and short-term Short-term Any investments with a maturity of one year or less. short-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss on the value of an asset that has been held less than a specified period of time. investment holdings in 2003 compared with 2002, appears to have subsided, with cash and short-term investments increasing by only $1.9 billion (2.1%) in 2004. The net trend during 2004 was an emphasis on placing invested assets in higher-yielding, fixed-income securities Fixed-income securities Investments that have specific interest rates, such as bonds. and equity placements instead of cash and short-term investments. The increase in the industry's consolidated fixed income position raises the potential for a surplus decline should long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. interest rates rise, causing decreased portfolio values on an unrealized basis. Mutual companies saw a gross yield on invested assets for 2004 that was 0.2% higher than that for stock companies. The difference in gross yield was only 0.1% in 2003.
Asset Distribution, Top Property/Casualty Writers, United States--2004
Rank is based on total admitted assets for 2004.
($ Millions)
Non-
affiliated
Common
Rank Group Name AMB# Stocks
1 State Farm Group 00088 $35,578
2 Berkshire Hathaway Ins 00811 34,316
3 Amer Intl Group, Inc 18540 3,607
4 St. Paul Travelers Cos 18647 199
5 Allstate Ins Group 00008 4,724
6 Liberty Mutual Ins Cos 00060 1,819
7 CNA Ins Cos 18313 257
8 Hartford Ins Group 00048 67
9 Nationwide Group 05987 3,393
10 Chubb Group of Ins Cos 00012 968
11 Zurich Finl Svcs North America Grp 18549 737
12 GE Global Ins Group 18572 144
13 Farmers Ins Group 00032 684
14 State Comp Ins Fund CA 04028 251
15 USAA Group 04080 1,123
16 Progressive Ins Group 00780 1,826
17 Amer Re Corp Group 18259 782
18 Ace INA Group 18498 432
19 Allianz of America, Inc 18429 496
20 Swiss Reins Group 03262 4
21 Fairfax Financial (USA) Group 03116 914
22 Safeco Ins Cos 00078 1,061
23 MBIA Group 03166 25
24 W.R. Berkley Group 04655 310
25 White Mountains Ins Group 18490 790
Total Top 25 P/C Writers $94,507
Total U.S. P/C Industry $141,164
Affiliated
% of Bonds &
Rank Group Name Assets Stocks
1 State Farm Group 33.6 5,536
2 Berkshire Hathaway Ins 33.8 5,836
3 Amer Intl Group, Inc 4.1 6,627
4 St. Paul Travelers Cos 0.3 1,729
5 Allstate Ins Group 10.0 4,087
6 Liberty Mutual Ins Cos 4.8 548
7 CNA Ins Cos 0.7 1,539
8 Hartford Ins Group 0.2 4,913
9 Nationwide Group 10.1 3,491
10 Chubb Group of Ins Cos 3.2 2,637
11 Zurich Finl Svcs North America Grp 2.7 158
12 GE Global Ins Group 0.6 3,152
13 Farmers Ins Group 3.4 407
14 State Comp Ins Fund CA 1.3 0
15 USAA Group 6.3 2,567
16 Progressive Ins Group 10.9 412
17 Amer Re Corp Group 4.9 1
18 Ace INA Group 2.7 116
19 Allianz of America, Inc 3.6 1,305
20 Swiss Reins Group 0.0 2
21 Fairfax Financial (USA) Group 7.8 663
22 Safeco Ins Cos 9.4 0
23 MBIA Group 0.2 286
24 W.R. Berkley Group 3.1 383
25 White Mountains Ins Group 8.0 137
Total Top 25 P/C Writers 11.5 $46,532
Total U.S. P/C Industry 11.0 $56,341
Cash &
% of Short-Term
Rank Group Name Assets Investments
1 State Farm Group 5.2 $1,155
2 Berkshire Hathaway Ins 5.7 35,355
3 Amer Intl Group, Inc 7.5 816
4 St. Paul Travelers Cos 2.5 3,101
5 Allstate Ins Group 8.7 849
6 Liberty Mutual Ins Cos 1.4 1,233
7 CNA Ins Cos 4.1 2,701
8 Hartford Ins Group 14.3 918
9 Nationwide Group 10.4 1,384
10 Chubb Group of Ins Cos 8.7 559
11 Zurich Finl Svcs North America Grp 0.6 378
12 GE Global Ins Group 13.6 1,517
13 Farmers Ins Group 2.0 -10
14 State Comp Ins Fund CA 0.0 1,234
15 USAA Group 14.4 3,277
16 Progressive Ins Group 2.5 901
17 Amer Re Corp Group 0.0 1,400
18 Ace INA Group 0.7 410
19 Allianz of America, Inc 9.3 -93
20 Swiss Reins Group 0.0 1,160
21 Fairfax Financial (USA) Group 5.6 2,259
22 Safeco Ins Cos 0.0 -50
23 MBIA Group 2.8 915
24 W.R. Berkley Group 3.8 706
25 White Mountains Ins Group 1.4 646
Total Top 25 P/C Writers 5.7 $62,721
Total U.S. P/C Industry 4.4 $91,165
Total
% of Admitted
Rank Group Name Assets Assets
1 State Farm Group 1.1 $105,977
2 Berkshire Hathaway Ins 34.8 101,660
3 Amer Intl Group, Inc 0.9 88,583
4 St. Paul Travelers Cos 4.5 69,229
5 Allstate Ins Group 1.8 47,211
6 Liberty Mutual Ins Cos 3.3 37,951
7 CNA Ins Cos 7.2 37,580
8 Hartford Ins Group 2.7 34,473
9 Nationwide Group 4.1 33,705
10 Chubb Group of Ins Cos 1.8 30,270
11 Zurich Finl Svcs North America Grp 1.4 26,971
12 GE Global Ins Group 6.5 23,204
13 Farmers Ins Group 0.0 19,851
14 State Comp Ins Fund CA 6.5 18,973
15 USAA Group 18.4 17,843
16 Progressive Ins Group 5.4 16,755
17 Amer Re Corp Group 8.8 15,921
18 Ace INA Group 2.6 15,867
19 Allianz of America, Inc -0.7 13,963
20 Swiss Reins Group 9.5 12,148
21 Fairfax Financial (USA) Group 19.2 11,760
22 Safeco Ins Cos -0.4 11,296
23 MBIA Group 8.8 10,383
24 W.R. Berkley Group 7.1 9,971
25 White Mountains Ins Group 6.5 9,915
Total Top 25 P/C Writers 7.6 $821,459
Total U.S. P/C Industry 7.1 $1,284,679
Gross Yield on
Invested Assets
Rank Group Name 2004 2003 2002
1 State Farm Group 4.5 4.9 5.1
2 Berkshire Hathaway Ins 3.5 4.7 4.5
3 Amer Intl Group, Inc 4.3 5.0 4.6
4 St. Paul Travelers Cos 6.0 5.7 5.8
5 Allstate Ins Group 5.8 5.5 5.6
6 Liberty Mutual Ins Cos 5.3 6.5 7.0
7 CNA Ins Cos 4.4 6.3 7.5
8 Hartford Ins Group 6.9 8.3 6.8
9 Nationwide Group 4.7 5.8 5.1
10 Chubb Group of Ins Cos 4.1 4.6 5.1
11 Zurich Finl Svcs North America Grp 4.0 4.5 4.8
12 GE Global Ins Group 3.9 7.2 15.0
13 Farmers Ins Group 4.4 4.4 5.5
14 State Comp Ins Fund CA 4.2 4.5 5.8
15 USAA Group 3.8 5.4 6.6
16 Progressive Ins Group 3.9 4.1 5.1
17 Amer Re Corp Group 3.9 4.6 5.2
18 Ace INA Group 4.5 4.4 4.7
19 Allianz of America, Inc 4.9 5.0 4.7
20 Swiss Reins Group 2.9 3.4 4.5
21 Fairfax Financial (USA) Group 3.9 3.5 5.1
22 Safeco Ins Cos 5.0 5.6 5.9
23 MBIA Group 4.6 4.6 5.2
24 W.R. Berkley Group 3.9 4.4 5.5
25 White Mountains Ins Group 3.9 4.0 4.4
Total Top 25 P/C Writers 4.6 5.3 5.7
Total U.S. P/C Industry 4.5 5.0 5.5
Source: A.M. Best Co. data.
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