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A.M. BestTV U.S. Title Insurance Industry Results Outshine Broader Commercial Sector, Says Senior Research Analyst


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Lee McDonald
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - OCTOBER 09, 2017 03:01 PM (EDT)
In this A.M.BestTV episode, David Blades, senior industry research analyst, A.M. Best, discusses a new Best’s Special Report on the U.S. title insurance sector, which has experienced another year of growth and stable outlook.. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=title1017 to view the entire program.

“Presently, A.M. Best’s outlook for the title insurance sector is stable,” said Blades. “This outlook is actually counter to our prevailing outlook for the overall commercial insurance market, which is negative. The stable outlook, basically, reflects consistent underwriting performance that generates consistent underwriting profits and consistent operating performance that remains strong. Additionally, effective expense management, which is critical to title insurers, has been one of the keys to the consistency in the results.”

Blades also spoke about the industry’s direct premium growth and the impact of the housing market on that growth.

“Direct premium growth in 2016, which was 9%, definitely did pale somewhat in comparison with the 16% growth from 2015. The steady but somewhat slowing growth in the housing market is one factor that impacted the lower premium growth in 2016,” said Blades.

Blades said he believes that by the end of the year, the industry likely will have recorded another year of modest premium growth.

To access a copy of this Best’s Special Report, titled, “Title Sector Withstands Challenges, for Another Year of Strong Operating Performance,” visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=266647 .

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