If every picture tells a story, as Rod Stewart once sang, can numbers likewise tell a tale?
The answer is yes, albeit a somewhat more complicated one. The farther you go down the rabbit hole of data, the more important it becomes to put those numbers in context; numbers themselves tell only half the story. The data is just the starting point.
Consider the fact that when a P&C insurer exits a line of business after re-evaluating its portfolio (and such decisions are never made lightly), the premiums paid by those clients — risks that are, after extensive analysis, deemed not worth insuring any longer — disappear. In most cases, this is a shrewd, sound move by a carrier to move away from clients or markets that are not part of its forward-looking vision; however, the loss of those premiums is still reflected on balance sheets. Or, in the case of the data found in our cover feature this month, NAIC statements.
|Providing context
Which is why I reach out to various companies when we compile this report, in order to provide the appropriate context around what readers are seeing. While I can always appreciate solid data, I know enough to realize that endless numbers are enough to bore the pants off many readers — with the possible exception of those on the actuarial side of the P&C business — without explaining some of the outliers.
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
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 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.
Shawn Moynihan
Shawn Moynihan is Editor-in-Chief of National Underwriter Property & Casualty. A St. John’s University alum, Moynihan has earned 11 Jesse H. Neal Awards, the Pulitzers of the business press; seven Azbee Awards, from the American Society of Business Press Editors; two Folio Awards; and a SABEW award, from the Society of American Business Editors & Writers. Prior to joining ALM, he served as Managing Editor/Online Editor of journalism institution Editor & Publisher, the trade bible of the newspaper industry. Moynihan also has held editorial positions with AOL, Metro New York, and Newhouse Newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
