Is the property and casualty insurance economic picture better from the outside looking in or the inside looking out? A panel of outside experts, followed by a panel of insurance company CEOs, considered this question recently at the Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum, held Jan. 13 at New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel.

When asked by moderator Robert P. Hartwig, president and economist, Insurance Information Institute, about the 2015 financial outlook for P&C insurers, the industry experts, looking in, found the economic picture mixed, with all lines facing rate pressure. Matthew Mosher, senior vice president, Global Ratings at A.M. Best Co., said that Personal lines should be stable on rates and loss costs; however, he had a more negative outlook for Commercial lines. Reinsurance companies especially are dealing with rate pressure, new entrants into the marketplace and shrinking reserves.

Vincent J. (V.J.) Dowling, managing partner of Dowling & Partners, said that insurers are “taking more cookies out of the jar than they’re putting in.” Although catastrophes were fewer than anticipated in 2014, insurers still incurred $30 billion in losses.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Rosalie Donlon

Rosalie Donlon is the editor in chief of ALM's insurance and tax publications, including NU Property & Casualty magazine and NU PropertyCasualty360.com. You can contact her at [email protected].