While property/casualty insurers may find comfort in reports from various pricing monitors revealing slow but consistent rate jumps over the course of 2012, investors see a different picture, according to a celebrated industry research analyst.
Executive Summary
A double-digit return for the p/c industry overall is not likely in 2013, according to V.J. Dowling.“Everybody is patting themselves on the back for the fact that they are getting 6 or 7 percent rate increases,” said V.J. Dowling, managing partner for Dowling & Partners Securities, during a session of the Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum recently, referring to industry executives’ reactions to indicators of rate movement, such as Towers Watson’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey, which recently indicated 6 percent growth in commercial insurance prices in third-quarter 2012.
