Q3 2009 Earnings Call

October 30, 2009 11:00 AM ET

Q4 2008 Earnings Call

February 6, 2009 11:00 am ET

Q3 2008 Earnings Call

October 24 2008 11 am ET

Insurance companies have seen their share prices plummet along with those of their investment banking brethren. Fear, however, may have caused some investors to underestimate the value of some insurance companies’ balance sheets. While insurance giants have suffered the blow from subprime exposure, some analysts have begun to emphasize the value in the plain-vanilla investments at the heart of many insurance companies’ investments.

With cleaner balance sheets and more transparent structures, many insurance companies have been surprisingly resilient in the face of financial crisis. This trend has been mirrored in our Sector Momentum Rankings and the performance of the PowerShares Dynamic Insurance Portfolio (PIC). From September 3 to October 1, PIC moved from the No. 24 position in our rankings to the No. 7 position. Year to date, PIC is down less than 15%—a nearly 12% improvement over that of the S&P 500.

There is an old-fashioned way that companies used to win business—by taking it from someone else. Yesterday, the U.S. government penalized a variety of insurers and other financial institutions who behaved with intelligence, shrewdness, and honor towards their shareholders and customers.

By 'doing the right thing' (a passé concept in Washington?), these companies rightfully deserve to win customers from a company whose balance sheet resembled more a highly leveraged hedge fund than a well-run insurer. To those who would argue that derivative counterparties would have been "unfairly" penalized by AIG's (AIG) collapse, let us be clear—we are not talking about innocents, we are talking about highly sophisticated (but clearly not very bright) players in the derivatives markets.

Q2 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

July 25, 2008 11:00 am ET

Readers have suggested some additional tickers for me.  Here they are:

General Electric (GE), Mircosoft (MSFT), Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. (BMY), Boeing (BA), American National Insurance Co. (ANAT), Kansas City LIfe Ins. Co. (KCLI), and Deere & Co. (DE).

Q1 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

April 25, 2008 11:00 am ET

Q4 2007 Earnings Call

February 8, 2008 11:00 am ET

Q3 2007 Earnings Call

October 26, 2007 11:00 am ET