As the United States politically veers to the right with the inauguration of Donald Trump as president, a Republican-controlled Congress and a majority of Republican governorships, the economic impact of his policies on the property/casualty insurance industry are coming into focus.
Executive Summary
P/C insurance industry leaders, analysts and academics, asked to assess the impact of the Trump presidency on the industry, projected growth on top and bottom lines in interviews that took place in advance of the inauguration. Here, they examine impacts related to infrastructure investments and regulatory changes. In Part 1, the commenters discussed the repeal of Obamacare and the impact of reduced corporate taxes on the P/C insurance industry.Industry leaders, analysts and academics, who assessed this impact for Carrier Management in advance of the inauguration, were especially bullish about the incoming president’s emphasis on infrastructure building and reduced regulation.
On the campaign trail, candidate Trump pledged to spend $1 trillion on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure—building and repairing roads, highways, bridges, tunnels and a border wall with Mexico, which that country will pay for in some manner, he insists.
As one of the largest construction insurance markets in the U.S., Zurich North America is optimistic about the revitalization of the nation’s infrastructure.
“This will be great for our construction customers—boosting their payrolls with a follow-on effect on workers compensation premiums, which are based on payroll,” said Dennis Kerrigan, chief legal officer at Zurich North America, part of the Swiss-owned Zurich Insurance Group. “We anticipate that our surety business to bond many of these infrastructure projects also will grow, given the need for substantial surety capacity.”
