Property/casualty insurers have started to broadcast the fact that they have earned spots on Ward’s list of 50 top-performing insurance companies for 2025, but only one was named for 35 straight years—RLI Corp.
In addition, there were three newcomers to the elite list this year: Hanover Insurance Group, Norfolk & Dedham Group and Intact Insurance Group USA.
Ward, a unit of Aon, which provides benchmarking and best practices studies for the insurance industry, annually analyzes financial performance property/casualty and life insurers by looking a five-year average measures of growth and profit, compiling the top 50 carriers in each segment since 1991.
According to Ward, the Ward’s 50 P/C insurance companies for 2025 produced a 14.0 percent statutory return on average equity from 2020 to 2024, compared to 8.5 percent for the P/C industry overall.
In addition, the Top 50 had a five-year average combined ratio 6.0 points better than the industry average.
RLI President and Chief Executive Officer Craig Kliethermes said the unbroken record of being named to the list “reflects the strength, integrity and dedication of our team. It underscores our long-standing focus on operational excellence and our commitment to delivering consistent value to our customers and partners.”
Also announcing a long-term position on the list was the Philadelphia Insurance Companies, marking its 25th consecutive year on the list.
“Earning this recognition for 25 consecutive years is a testament to the team at PHLY for their exceptional work and dedicated service to our customers and agents,” said John Glomb, president and CEO of Philadelphia Insurance Companies. “The level of consistency and recognition shows our policyholders, independent agents, and broker partners that they can rely on us.”
While other insurers have yet to publish statements to announce that they have been named to the 2025 list, by Carrier Management’s count, roughly 62 percent of this year’s honorees—31 of the 50—have been on the list in each of the last six years starting with 2020.
ACUITY appears on the top of the list, which is presented in alphabetical order, and is also one of the insurers with a long-term position on the list. ACUITY has been on the list for 26 straight years.
Berkshire Hathaway, listed in the last two years as Berkshire Hathaway, appeared on the list in 33 prior years under the GEICO brand name.
Comparing this year’s list available on the Ward’s website, with two prior lists that are also still available for viewing, also reveals that 82 percent of the 2025 Ward’s 50 P/C carriers (41 out of 50) have been on the list for at least three consecutive years.
Making room for Hanover, Intact and N&D, three 2024 honorees dropped off the list: Canal Insurance Company, Merchants Insurance Group and New Jersey Manufacturers Group.
The complete 50-member list, published alphabetically on Ward’s website, is derived by analyzing the financial results of nearly 2,900 P/C carriers using metrics such as:
- Five-Year Average Return on Average Equity
- Five-Year Average Return on Average Assets
- Five-Year Average Return on Total Revenue
- Five-Year Growth in Revenue
- Five-Year Growth in Surplus
- Five-Year Average Combined Ratio
In addition to their stellar combined ratios and ROE results, Ward reported that in comparing the Top 50 cohort to the industry, the benchmarking firm found:
- The Top 50 grew policyholder surplus by 31.7 percent compared to 21.9 percent for the industry for the five-year period since 2020.
- Net premiums written for the Ward’s 50 P/C group grew 53.6 percent compared to the industry’s 46.0 percent growth.
In order to be eligible for the list, before companies are even evaluated on the various financial metrics, carriers must pass minimum safety and consistency thresholds, including:
- Surplus and premiums of at least $50 million for each of the five years analyzed
- Net income in at least four of the last five years
- Compound annual growth in premiums between -10 percent and 40 percent.
A separate ranking of P/C insurance companies based on long-term performance metrics, from S&P Global Markets Intelligence, is scheduled to be published next week. Last year, three of the newer companies to join the Ward’s 50 list—Kinsale, Arch Capital and FM Global—ranked as the top performers on S&P GMI’s 2024 Top P&C Insurance Company Performance Rankings.
Related article: S&P GMI Performance Rankings: E&S Insurer Kinsale Takes Top Spot
All three carriers first appeared on the Ward’s 50 list in 2024, and continued to hold a spot in 2025.
This year, earnings performance of one of the three—Arch Capital—earned the insurer upgraded credit ratings. In late June, S&P Global Ratings raised its long-term issuer credit and financial strength ratings on Arch Capital Group Ltd.’s core insurance operating subsidiaries to “AA-” from “A+.”
“The upgrade reflects our view that the improvement in Arch’s [insurance and reinsurance] underwriting performance in recent years has enhanced the diversity and resilience of the group’s earnings profile and further solidified its competitive position,” S&P Global Ratings said in a statement also highlighting the firm’s robust capitalization.
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