Berkshire Hathaway dethrones Allianz as world’s largest insurer

Investing.com -- Berkshire Hathaway has claimed the top spot in AM Best’s ranking of the world’s 25 largest insurance companies by non-banking assets, surpassing Allianz SE, the global rating agency announced on Monday.

Berkshire Hathaway’s non-banking assets grew by 7.8% to $1.15 trillion in 2024, while Allianz SE’s assets increased by 6.2% to $1.09 trillion. This shift ends Allianz SE’s five-year reign as the top-ranked insurer by non-banking assets.

In the separate ranking by net premiums written (NPW), UnitedHealth Group maintained its leading position for the 11th consecutive year, with NPW growing 6.2% to $308.8 billion, followed by Centene Corp.

Health insurers dominated the top NPW rankings, with four of the top five being U.S.-based health companies. Centene Corp, Elevance Health, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Group maintained their second, third, and fourth positions respectively.

State Farm Group reported the highest NPW increase among the top 10 at 16.4% to $114.47 billion, moving up to fifth place. In the NPW ranking, Berkshire Hathaway placed ninth, behind Allianz SE in eighth position. UnitedHealth did not appear in the top 10 rankings by non-banking assets.

The remaining top five insurers by non-banking assets remained unchanged from last year, with China Life Insurance Group, Ping An Insurance Group, and Prudential Financial occupying the third, fourth, and fifth positions respectively.

AM Best noted that while some of China’s largest insurance groups continued to grow their non-banking assets, this growth was partially offset by the Chinese yuan’s 3.2% depreciation against the U.S. dollar in 2024.

State Farm Group and Athene Holding, which were not included in the top 25 ranked insurers by non-banking assets in 2023, secured the 19th and 24th positions respectively for 2024. MetLife, Nippon Life Insurance, CNP Assurances, Japan Post Insurance, National Mutual Insurance Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives, and Zurich Insurance Group maintained their places in the top 25 despite decreases in their non-banking assets.

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