W.R. Berkley Reports Gains for Q1

Kudos to Key Risk and their parent company W.R. Berkley for a solid first quarter.

W.R. Berkley Corp. reported record quarterly underwriting income, double-digit premium growth and healthy rate increases in the first quarter.

The commercial lines insurer and reinsurer also saw its net income soar to $229.5 million, or $1.23 per diluted share, compared to a $4.4 million loss, or minus $0.02 per diluted share, in the 2020 first quarter.

Berkley’s gross premiums written nearly hit $2.5 billion in Q1 versus $2.2 billion a year ago. Net premiums written landed at $2 billion compared to more than $1.8 billion in the 2020 first quarter.

Net investment income dipped a bit in Q1, to $158.6 million, versus nearly $174.8 million in the same, year-ago period. At the same time, W.R. Berkley booked almost $35 million in net investment gains versus $177 million in net investment losses in Q1 2020.

Its insurance combined ratio was 90.6 for Q1 2021, improved from 96.4 last year. Its reinsurance/monoline excess combined ratio was 87.4 compared to 100.6 a year ago.

Berkley’s average rate increases excluding workers compensation were nearly 13 percent. And the insurer said it produced a record $182.6 million in quarterly underwriting income.

Workers’ compensation net premiums written were $286.7 million during the quarter, down from nearly $327.3 million in the 2020 first quarter.

Source: W.R. Berkley

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Paul Hughes has been working with the Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”) industry since 1995 and data management since 2005. He is responsible for the day to day operations of both Libertate Insurance Services, LLC and RiskMD, which reports into the overall Ballator Insurance Group family of companies. Learn more about Paul.

Specializing in PEO Services: Workers Compensation, Mergers & Acquisitions, Data Management, Insurance Focus on: Employment Practices Liability (EPLI), Cyber Liability, Health Insurance, Occupational Accident, Business Insurance, Client Company, Casualty, and Disability Insurance.