1 Insurer Makes 50 Most-Admired Companies List

For the second year, Berkshire Hathaway is the only insurer to make it into the top 50, but Fortune’s full list of the World’s Most Admired Companies includes 19 insurers.

Insurance Networking News, March 4, 2013

Carrie Burns

Berkshire Hathaway takes the No. 8 spot in FORTUNE’s 50 Most Admired Companies ranking. According to the media outlet, “Warren Buffett is one of the nation's most revered CEOs. In addition to building a conglomerate with 250,000 employees and nearly $50 billion in cash holdings, the Oracle of Omaha has pledged to give half his massive wealth to charity (and has goaded others to do the same). His company is equally admired, if less quirky. Its holdings range from ice cream to insurance to condiments. It bought H.J. Heinz earlier this year, in a deal that was one of the largest in the company's history and a sure sign that Berkshire has no plans to scale back, even as Buffett approaches his 83rd birthday.”

Through a partnership with management consulting firm Hay Group, Fortune determines the rankings by using the Fortune 1000 listing and the Global 500 listing. Companies in the 26 international industries must have approximately $10 billion in revenue and rank among the 15 largest by revenue within their industry.

For the second year, Berkshire Hathaway is the only insurer making the list. However, as a part of the ranking, Fortune also highlights industry-specific admire companies. To create the 57 industry lists, Hay asked executives, directors, and analysts to rate companies in their industry on nine criteria:

• ability to attract and retain talented people

• quality of management

• social responsibility to the community and the environment

• innovativeness

• quality of products or services

• wise use of corporate assets

• financial soundness

• long-term investment value

• effectiveness in doing business globally

Below are the insurers receiving recognition, along with their scores.

Insurance: Property and Casualty

Berkshire Hathaway (7.18)

Munich Re Group (6.32)

Zurich Insurance Group (6.22)

Allianz (6.01)

Travelers (6.01)

State Farm (5.9)

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group (5.33)

Tokio Marine Holdings (5.15)

Insurance: Life and Health

Alfac (6.12)

Prudential Financial (5.89)

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (5.81)

New York Life Insurance (5.69)

MetLife (5.46)

Northwestern Mutual (5.45)

TIAA-CREF (5.4)

AXA (5.04)

Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care

UnitedHealth Group (7.13)

Aetna (6.44)

Coventry Health Care (5.59)

Cigna (5.57)

Humana (5.52)

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