The world’s largest publicly traded insurance companies
- Ny. Admin
- 2022 September 28T13:45
- Insurance Company
The size of insurance firms can be ranked in several different ways. Market capitalization (the value of a company as it is traded on a stock exchange) and sales metrics like net premiums written or policies sold per year are two common methods of evaluating businesses. Here, we take a look at the top 10 insurers in terms of market capitalization, market share, and revenue.
the world’s largest publicly traded insurance companies
A company’s market capitalization, or market cap, can be determined by multiplying the current price of its shares by the number of outstanding shares. It is an efficient metric for gauging the worth of a company to potential buyers.
Most of the time, it’s safe to invest in large cap companies. As a result, they are the safest and most promising to invest in because of their consistent growth. Established but with substantial room for expansion characterizes mid-cap companies. In conclusion, small-cap stocks typically represent up-and-coming businesses with significant room for expansion. These businesses are more at risk during economic downturns, making them a riskier investment option than larger and more established companies.
It is possible to invest in the insurance market by purchasing stock in a publicly traded company. As of the first quarter of 2022, the following are the largest non-health insurance companies in terms of market capitalization on the world’s stock exchanges:
Stock Exchange-Traded Insurers Other Than Health
| Company Name | Market Capitalization |
| Berkshire Hathaway (U.S.) | $714 billion |
| Ping An Insurance (China) | $141 billion |
| AIA Group (Hong Kong) | $123 billion |
| China Life Insurance (China) | $106 billion |
| Allianz (Germany) | $89 billion |
| Cigna (US) | $76 billion |
| Zurich Insurance (Switzerland) | $67 billion |
| AXA (France) | $65 billion |
| Humana (U.S.) | $55 billion |
| Munich (Germany) | $39 billion |
Market cap data as of March 1, 2022. Source: Yahoo! Finance
Companies Specializing in Health Management and Insurance that Trade on Public Exchanges
| Company Name | Market Capitalization |
| United Healthcare (UNH) | $448 billion |
| CVS (CVS) | $136 billion |
| Anthem (ANTM) | $109 billion |
| Cigna (CI) | $76 billion |
| Humana (HUM) | $55 billion |
| Centene Corporation (CNC) | $48 billion |
| Molina Healthcare (MOH) | $18 billion |
| Bright Health Group (BHG) | $2 billion |
| MultiPlan Corporation (MPLN) | $2 billion |
| Alignment Healthcare (ALHC) | $1.6 billion |
Market cap data as of March 1, 2022. Source: Yahoo! Finance
The stock market does not include all insurance providers. Policyholders of participating policies in a mutual insurance company are de facto shareholders in the business. Mutual insurance companies have been around for hundreds of years, and they offer policyholders a number of advantages that are unavailable to those who purchase coverage from a stock-based insurer.
Market Share and Product Offering of the Largest Insurance Agencies
When comparing the largest insurance providers, it is helpful to break things down by insurance line. Since many of the largest insurers in the United States are not publicly traded, sales data can be used to help estimate their value.
Property & Casualty
Insurers who specialize in property and casualty issues policies that protect tangible assets like homes, cars, and boats. In order to help defray the costs of lawsuits or medical damages that may result from accidents or negligence on those properties, they also write policies dealing with liabilities.
In 2020, the top two U.S. property and casualty insurers by net premiums written (the total amount of money that non-life policies can anticipate receiving from the policy over its lifetime, minus any commissions and expenses) will be:
| Company | Net Premiums Written |
| State Farm Group | $66.2 billion |
| Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) | $46.4 billion |
| Progressive Insurance Group (PGR) | $41.7 billion |
| Allstate Insurance Group (ALL) | $39.2 billion |
| Liberty Mutual | $36.2 billion |
| Travelers Group (TRV) | $28.8 billion |
| USAA Group | $24.6 billion |
| Chubb (CB) | $24.2 billion |
| Farmers Insurance Group | $20.1 billion |
| Nationwide | $18.5 billion |
Life Insurance Companies
When a policyholder dies, their beneficiaries will receive a predetermined amount of money from their life insurer. Even though actuarial science has produced mortality tables to reliably estimate the future liability of policies to be paid, the companies’ ability to meet all of their obligations and still turn a profit depends on their financial health.
In the United States, life insurance firms can be ranked by their direct premium written (the number of new policies written directly and not re-insured). For 2020:3
| Company | Total Direct Premium | Market Share |
| New York Life Grp | $11.7 billion | 6.75% |
| Northwestern Mutual | $11.3 billion | 6.52% |
| Metropolitan Group (MET) | $10.5 billion | 6.05% |
| Prudential of America (PRU) | $10.1 billion | 5.80% |
| Lincoln National | $8.4 billion | 4.83% |
| MassMutual | $7.9 billion | 4.57% |
| State Farm | $5.0 billion | 2.87% |
| Aegon (AEG) | $4.9 billion | 2.80% |
| John Hancock | $4.7 billion | 2.73% |
| Minnesota Mutual Grp | $4.7 billion | 2.70% |
Health Insurance Companies
The purpose of health insurance is to reimburse the policyholder for some or all of their medical expenses. Insurance can be obtained either independently or via an employer. Medicare, Social Security, and state-run Medicaid all make the federal government the largest health insurance provider in the United States.
According to the NAIC 2020 report, the three U.S. health insurance providers with the highest total direct premium collections are not government-sponsored.
| Company | Total Direct Premium | Market Share |
| UnitedHealth Group (UNH) | $177 billion | 14.1% |
| Kaiser | $104 billion | 8.3% |
| Anthem | $77 billion | 6.2% |
| Centene Corp. | $75 billion | 6.0% |
| Humana | $74 billion | 5.9% |
| CVS Healthcare (CVS) | $69 billion | 5.5% |
| CIGNA Health | $32 billion | 2.5% |
| Molina Healthcare | $21 billion | 1.7% |
| Independence Health | $21 billion | 1.6% |
How Much Do the Top Executives at Health Care Providers Earn?
The annual salaries of the following top executives at the six largest health insurers total more than $15 million: 4
- Centene’s Michael Neidorff takes home $26.4 million annually.
- Cigna’s David Cordani earns an astounding $19.1 million annually.
- UnitedHealth Group’s David Wichmann earns $18.9 million annually.
- As CEO of Molina Healthcare, Joseph Zubretsky earns $18 million annually.
- With an annual salary of $16.7 million, Human’s Bruce Broussard is one of the highest-paid actors in the
- Anthem’s Gail Boudreaux makes $15.5 million a year in salary.
Should You Invest Money in Big Insurance Companies?
There are investors who find the stability of insurance company investments appealing. Investing in insurance companies is less risky because they were created to handle risk. Because of the dynamic nature of the health insurance industry, it has greater expansion potential than other lines of insurance.
Where Do Insurance Firms Get Most of Their Money?
Financial institutions are typically insurance firms’ largest shareholders. As an illustration, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has 4,124 institutional owners who collectively hold over a billion shares. 5
How Big Are the Top U.S. Homeowners Insurance Providers?
State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Liberty Mutual, and Farmers are the five largest homeowners insurance providers in the United States. 6 This group of insurers controls more than 45 percent of the home-owners-insurance market.
Which Canadian Insurance Companies Have the Most Customers?
Canadians can choose from Manulife Financial Corporation, Great-West Lifeco, Desjardins, Sun Life Financial, or Fairfax Financial, the country’s five largest insurance providers. 7 Manulife is Canada’s largest insurer, with over 35,000 employees and 30 million policyholders.
The Bottom Line
There are a number of ways to order the largest insurers. Investing in publicly traded stocks is a great way to gain exposure to the finance and healthcare industries as part of a diversified portfolio. A company’s level of competition can be gauged by learning what areas of insurance it specializes in. The sales figures or annual premiums collected can also be used to compare the performance of publicly traded companies to that of privately held or mutual companies, which account for a significant portion of the market.
