Spain-based MAPFRE has released the results of its 7th annual survey of European insurance companies and has ordered them based on their writing of gross premiums, determining that all of the top insurers were able to both raise their revenues from premiums and achieve successful outcomes that were largely based on activity outside their own countries.
The survey specifically examined non-life insurers, and the report published by MAPFRE stated that the top ten insurance companies saw an increase of 5.2 percent in their premiums, bringing them to $283.39 billion in 2010. This is a significant rise from 2009, which had shown a decline of 1.8 percent as a result of economic struggles after the global recession.
The report also went on to say that the leading ten non-life insurers “showed signs of business soundness and strength last year, consolidating their recovery with respect to the year before.”
At the top of the ranks produced by the MAPFRE report, was ALLIANZ, a German group. The following four ranks were held by AXA, Zurich, Generali, and Eureko. All of those positions are the same from the year before.
Also noted in the survey was that last year showed a modest turn-around among economies in developing nations, and that emerging economies showed a sturdy vitality. Overall, the rise in the insurers’ portfolios demonstrated prices that were more robust and revenues that were greater from their international business.
Data collected by the participating insurers indicated that the commercial insurance versus retail line should be highlighted since the former was influenced by an underwriting policy that was notably more limited.