Monday, April 18, 2011

Insurance Company Analysts

Beware of Wall Street’s insurance advice. Companies make annual filings with their various home-state insurance departments. Very few, if any, current analysts can understand these intricate documents. Therefore, they are not capable insurance analysts.

I rarely have found anyone on the Street giving advice on insurance company securities who have taken the trouble to truly learn how to understand the policies the companies write, and the reserves behind them. Unfortunately, this lack of Wall Street insurance knowledge persists, based on commentaries I see in the media.

The earnings and book values they spout must, therefore, always be suspect. There are Earl J. Weinreb commentaries on the subject.

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