Insurance Sector Primer
A 42-page primer plus Excel model on insurance valuation: the combined ratio, float, P/BV through ROE, reserve development, and the life spread business.
PDF Only
The full primer in PDF format
£25 / ~$32- ✓ 42-page sector primer
- ✓ Worked valuations
- ✓ Screening thresholds
Excel Model
Plug-and-play valuation template
£45 / ~$58- ✓ Pre-built valuation model
- ✓ Sensitivity tables
- ✓ Scenario toggles
PDF + Model
Everything you need in one package
- ✓ 42-page sector primer
- ✓ Valuation model (.xlsx)
- ✓ Save £11 vs buying separately
Three primers, three Excel models
Banks, Insurance, and Alternative Asset Managers. Everything at ~25% off
Inside the primer
The 16-section contents, a worked valuation page, and the Excel dashboard.
Table of Contents
- 01 How Insurers Make Money
- 02 Listed Insurer Types
- 03 The Underwriting Cycle and Stage Ladder
- 04 Segments and Sub-Markets
- 05 Revenue Drivers: Generic Build
- 06 Cost Structure: Combined Ratio and Float
- 07 Valuation Frameworks
- 08 Worked Example: Residual-Income Valuation
- 09 Valuation Sensitivities
- 10 Insurers Outside the United States
- 11 Applied Cases: Combined Ratio, Float and P/BV
- 12 Applied Cases: Yields, Reserves and Life Spread
- 13 The Companies in This Primer
- 14 Key Metrics and Screening
- 15 Risks, Benchmarks and Case Study
- 16 Glossary and Cheat Sheet
42 pages · 16 sections · 3 worked valuations
The Excel model
Educational material for professional use. This primer and its model are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and they are not personalised. Worked valuations use illustrative calibrations, not fair-value estimates for any company.
Insurers price risk and invest the premium they collect before they have to pay claims, so two levers decide profitability: how well the underwriting is priced and how much return the float earns while it sits on the balance sheet. The combined ratio measures the first; anything below 100% means the underwriting itself made money before investment income is added. Return on equity ties the two together, and price-to-book value follows sustainable ROE the same way a bank's price-to-tangible-book follows ROTCE. Reserve adequacy sits underneath both: an insurer that has under-reserved is reporting a return on equity it has not actually earned yet.
The primer builds the tools in order: the listed insurer types, the underwriting cycle and stage ladder, the segment and revenue build, then the combined ratio and float side of the cost structure. A worked residual-income valuation and its sensitivities run from first input to the resulting multiple for a P&C underwriter, before applied cases on Chubb, Progressive, Travelers, AIG, MetLife and Prudential Financial. Screening closes with P/BV bands against sustainable ROE, the combined ratio ladder and reserve development.
Free guides on the site cover the individual pieces, so you can revise one idea without reopening the PDF: combined ratio, P/BV vs ROE, float and investment income, reserve development and life spread. Research profiles for CB, PGR, TRV, AIG, MET and PRU run the same screens on filed results. The companion Excel model spans thirteen sheets, from three worked insurer tabs through the combined ratio and reserve development screens to a live sensitivity grid, so swapping in your own insurer rebuilds the valuation from the combined ratio up.
Sheets: Quick Start, Instructions, Assumptions, Insurer 1, Insurer 2, Insurer 3, Valuation Summary, Combined Ratio, Float & NII, Reserve Development, Sensitivity, Comps, Dashboard.
See this methodology applied to a real company:
Chubb (CB) →