Chubb (CB) is one of the older insurance companies in North America.The company was founded in 1882 and has grown its dividend payments for 33 consecutive years.

Chubb sells home, car, business, and supplemental health insurance policies through its network of independent agents and brokers located in North and South America, Australia, Europe and Asia. The company operates in 3 primary segments.Each segment is shown below along with a brief description of the types of insurance it covers:

Despite its global network of independent agents, Chubb is primarily a United States company.Chubb generates around 75% of its premium revenue in the United States.

Chubb is the 5th largest publicly traded property and casualty insurer in the United States based on its market cap of $29.4 billion.The company’s larger rivals are listed below:

The Most Important Insurance Metric

The combined ratio is arguably the most important metric for an insurance company.The combined ratio is calculated as follows:

(claims paid + expenses) / premium revenue

A combined ratio under 100% means the company’s insurance operations are profitable without additional investment income.

When a company has a combined ratio under 100% that means it gets paid to invest its float.This is like receiving a negative interest rate loan you can invest into interest bearing (or dividend paying) securities.

Chubb’s combined ratio has been below 100% every year since 2002.The image below shows the company’s combined ratio for each full fiscal year since 2002: