Commercial Property Insurer FM Global Reports
2009 Results
March 18, 2010 01:12 PM Eastern Daylight Time
JOHNSTON, R.I.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--FM Global, one of the world’s largest business property
insurers, announced today that it ended 2009 with a very strong underwriting performance, with client retention rates
remaining at historically high levels and an investment portfolio return that outperformed industry benchmarks.
The mutual insurance company reported that, in 2009 gross premium in force grew by 5.6 percent to US$4.7 billion
and net income was US$840 million.
Policyholder surplus grew 35 percent to US$6.3 billion, due to a combination of solid underwriting and investment
results which marked a recovery to its position before the recent financial market upheaval.
Additionally, the company posted a profitable combined ratio of 69.6 percent, better than forecast, due in large part
to the absence of large insured natural disaster losses and policyholders’ risk improvement efforts. FM Global’s
client (account) retention rate was 93 percent, significantly higher than industry averages.
Among the company’s 2009 highlights, FM Global:
l Expanded its longstanding presence in Brazil, and its presence in Malaysia, by licensing its reinsurance
activities in those countries. The company also established an insurance company branch in Switzerland and
began the process of establishing an insurance company branch in Spain.
l Delivered more than 90 percent of its clients’ master policies within 30 days of inception and more than 70
percent before the policy’s inception date—well above industry averages.
l Increased worldwide headcount by approximately four percent, due primarily to the expansion of FM
Global’s global capabilities.
l Broadened the capability of its large-scale fire test laboratory at its Research Campus in West Glocester, R.I.,
USA and designed a new 72,000-square-foot (6,700-square-meter) natural hazards laboratory. The
Research Campus is the world’s largest