In 2020, total direct premiums written under workers' compensation reached more than $51 billion, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), while direct premiums earned exceed $51.3 billion. These overall totals are down slightly from the year prior, NAIC data shows. Some of this downward pressure came from pre-pandemic workers' compensation trends of declining loss costs and expense ratio gains being exacerbated by COVID, making the need for better underwriting and portfolio management practices even more pressing as we move into the "next normal," according to Insurity LLC. Related: COVID's impact on the residual workers' comp market Investment yields are at an all-time low, which is compounding troubling trends as it becomes more difficult to make up losses with investment income, the InsurTech reported. "It's clear from our analysis that new business is becoming harder to find while insurers may also be on the hook to return a significant amount of premium upon retrospective audits," Kirstin Marr, head of data solutions at Insurity, said in a release. "Compounding this, investment yields are at all-time lows. This puts adequacy of premium at risk and creates urgency around enhanced risk selection, pricing, and portfolio management practices — not only to safeguard loss ratios but also to establish competitive differentiation." Related: Workplace safety considerations as the vaccine rolls out The above slideshow highlights the top 25 property & casualty groups and companies in the workers' compensation market, according to NAIC data. Related: Workers' comp data in a dash