The New York Insurence Company Stock
Exchange.
The world’s top insurers are facing low bond yields, global
geopolitical risk and regulatory pressures. Yet they’re forging ahead by
enabling knowledge to woo new customers and cut claim handling costs and adding
specialty or unique product lines to boost profits. “It’s a healthy industry
from a balance sheet perspective, and there’s a lot of capital trying to get
in, says John Marra, insurance deals leader with PwC in New York City.
The top three insurers on the Forbes Global 2000 list of
most powerful companies—Ping An Insurance Group, Allianz Group and AXA
Group--are diversified players. With life & health, property &
casualty, and financial services divisions.
The FORBES Global 2000 ranking is based on a composite score
from equally-weighted measures of revenue, profits, assets and marketplace
value. Among the world’s 25 largest insurers, China, Japan and the United
States each house four. Switzerland and the United Kingdom house three, Germany
has two, and Canada, France, Italy, Hong Kong and Taiwan each claim one spot.
China’s Ping An Insurance Group ranks opening among
insurers, moving up from overall spot #20 last year to #16 on this year’s list.
Over the 12 months to April 7, when Global 2000 data was locked in, Ping An
generated $106.6 billion in revenue, $9.5 billion in profits and its market
capitalization stood at $100.8 billion. The tech-driven company boasted of 131
million customers at year-end 2016, up 20% from the beginning of the year, with
nearly a quarter of the newcomers coming in online.
Germany’s Allianz ranks #2 among insurers, staying at #21
overall on the Forbes Global 2000. After posting strong 2016 results, Allianz
announced a share buy-back of up to $3 billion over the next year to return
unused funds once targeted for acquisitions.
One big unknown looming over U.S.-based insurers and global
companies with U.S. operations, is the prospect of tax reform under the Trump
Administration. Non-U.S.-domiciled companies are also exploring the impact of
just passed international financial reporting standards set to go into effect
on Jan. 1, 2021.
The FORBES Global 2000 ranking is based on a composite score
from equally-weighted measures of revenue, profits, assets and market value.
The 2017 list features public companies from 58 countries that together account
for $35.3 trillion in revenue, $2.5 trillion in profit, $169.1 trillion of
assets, and have a combined market
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