Abstract
We examine the relation between board-level financial expertise and six measures of performance using panel data drawn from the United Kingdom’s non-life insurance industry. We find that collectively, financial experts have a beneficial influence on the performance outcomes of insurers. We also observe that board-level qualified accountants and actuaries are linked with superior performance in all six of our selected financial outcome measures. Professional insurance underwriters are associated with sound solvency levels (low leverage) and underwriting results, but not positive earnings-based measures. This suggests that underwriters may not be as adept at group-level earnings enhancement as accountants and actuaries. In addition, we find that the introduction of IFRS 4 in 2004/2005 did not have a significant impact on board composition and financial outcomes. Finally, we consider that our results could have commercial and/or policy implications.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 168-195 |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Journal | Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 30 Apr 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2020 |
Keywords
- UK
- financial experts
- governance
- insurance
- performance
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Accounting
- Finance
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)
