Top Largest Insurance Company In The World
Largest Insurance Companies by Market Capitalization
Market capitalization, or market cap, is the total value of a company's stock, and it is calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the current share price. It is a quick way of determining the value of a company in the eyes of investors
Companies with large market caps are generally established conservative investments. They likely experience steady growth and offer the least amount of risk. Mid-cap companies are also established but have high growth potential. Lastly, small-cap companies are often new companies with high growth potential. Investing in these companies poses the greatest risk because they are more vulnerable to economic downturns than the more established large and mid-cap companies.
Investors can buy shares of publicly-traded companies in the insurance industry. The largest non-health insurance companies by market capitalization on the world stock exchanges as of Q1 2022 are:
Company Name Market Capitalization
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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
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AXA (France) $65 billion
Humana (U.S.) $55 billion
Munich (Germany) $39 billion
Publicly Traded Health Insurance and Managed Health Care Companies
Company Name Market Capitalization
United Healthcare (UNH) $448 billion
CVS (CVS) $136 billion
Anthem (ANTM) $109 billion
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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
Not all insurance companies are publicly traded. In fact, many insurers are structured as mutual companies, where policyholders of participating policies are essentially partial owners of the company. The mutual company model for an insurance company dates back hundreds of years, and there are certain benefits conferred on policyholders that do not exist with publicly traded (stock company) insurers.
Largest Insurance Companies by Sales and Product Line
It is useful to differentiate between the type of insurance, or line, that is being considered when considering the largest insurance companies. Using sales data is helpful as some of the largest insurance companies in the United States are not publicly traded and therefore their market value is not easily ascertained.
Property & Casualty
Property and casualty insurers write policies covering property such as real estate, dwellings, cars, and other vehicles. They also write policies dealing with liabilities that may be incurred by accident or negligence related to those properties to defray the cost of lawsuits or medical damages resulting from such incidents.
The top U.S. property and casualty companies in 2020 by net premiums written (the amount of money that non-life policies can expect to receive over the life of the contract, less commissions and costs) are:
Company Net Premiums Written
State Farm Group $66.2 billion
Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) $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
Life Insurance companies promise to pay out a lump sum benefit upon the death of the insured. Although actuarial science has created mortality tables to accurately estimate the future liability of policies to be paid, having financial strength ensures that these companies can meet all of their obligations while still earning a profit.
Life Insurance companies in the U.S. can be ranked by direct premium written (the number of new policies written directly and not re-insured). For 2020:
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
Health insurance companies provide policies to cover all or part of the policyholder's health and medical costs. Policies may be purchased individually or through an employer. Technically, the United States government is the largest health insurance provider in America through the Medicare program, Social Security, and Medicaid administered by individual states.
Based on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) 2020 report, the largest non-government sponsored U.S. health insurance companies measured by total direct premium collected were:
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%
What Do the CEOs of the Largest Health Insurance Companies Make?
The following CEOs of the 6 largest health insurance companies make over $15 million annually:
Michael Neidorff of Centene earns $26.4 million
David Cordani of Cigna earns $19.1 million
David Wichmann of UnitedHealth Group earns $18.9 million
Joseph Zubretsky of Molina Healthcare earns $18 million
Bruce Broussard of Human earns $16.7 million
Gail Boudreaux of Anthem earns $15.5 million
Are the Large Insurance Companies Good Investments?
Investing in insurance companies can be a safe option for some investors. Insurance
Insurance companies are founded to deal with risk, which can ultimately reduce the risks associated with investing in them. Health insurance, subject to rapid changes, has the potential for significant growth compared to other types of insurance companies.
Who Are the Largest Investors in Insurance Companies?
The largest investors in insurance companies are generally other institutions. For example, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) has 4,124 institutional owners, who hold more than one billion shares.
What Are the Largest Homeowners Insurance Companies in the U.S.?
The five largest homeowners insurance companies in the U.S. are State Farm, Allstate, USAA, Liberty Mutual, and Farmers.
Together, these companies hold more than 45% of the homeowners' insurance market share.
What Are the Largest Insurance Companies in Canada?
The five largest insurance companies in Canada are Manulife Financial Corporation, Great-West Lifeco, Desjardins, Sun Life Financial, and Fairfax Financial.
Manulife is Canada's largest insurance company, employing over 35,000 employees and serving more than 30 million customers.
