Insurance Markets in the US
The US insurance market in the US is the largest insurance market in the world, with 27% of gross premiums written worldwide in 2013 being in the US. Insurance is a contract in which the insurer compensates the buyer for any damage, such as car insurance covering a car crash.
Economic Contribution
The insurance market plays a key role in the American economy, with it making up 40% of the GDP of financial institutions in the US, and plays an important role in job creation by employing 2 million people. The growth of GDP is generally seen as a key for the rise of insurance sales. Insurance sales also contribute significantly to the overall GDP of the United States, with 8% of the GDP contributed by the insurance market.
The insurance market is also significant for the stock market with many companies in the S&P 500 index and many other listen on different US stock exchanges. As equity markets rise, increased investments into insurance companies is common
Key Insurance Types
The main insurance industries in the United States are life, health and property and casualty insurance. These insurance types make up a large part of the insurance market. Life insurance covers the cost of the loss of life of the insurer, with various policies within the insurance. The major companies in this sector of the insurance market are MetLife, Prudential Financial and AFLAC.
Property and casualty insurance insures policyholders from liability, risks to property and casualty, such as damages to property. AIG and ACE are the major companies in this sector of insurance, but this is one of the most competitive sectors of the insurance market. Although they are two different sectors of the insurance market, many companies offer both property and casualty insurance and life insurance.
Health insurance helps pay for incurring any medical expenses for the policyholder. The major insurance providers in this sector are the Blue Cross blue Shield and Humana.
Facts
Some facts about the insurance industry in the US:
- In 2013, there were 6086 insurance companies in the US
- In 2014, the insurance industry employed 2.5 million people, 838,200 worked for life, health and medical insurance companies. Property and casualty insurance employed 596, 000 people and reinsurers employed 25, 200. 1 million people worked for insurance agencies, brokers and other insurance enterprises.
- Total property and casualty assets totaled $1.5 trillion in 2013, the figure for life and health insurance assets was $3.5 trillion.