American Financial Group, Inc. (‘AFG’) operates as an insurance holding company.
Through the operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses. AFG’s in-house team of investment professionals oversees the company’s investment portfolio.
Segments
Property and Casualty Insurance Segment
AFG’s property and casualty insurance operations provide a wide range of commercial coverages through 36...
American Financial Group, Inc. (‘AFG’) operates as an insurance holding company.
Through the operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses. AFG’s in-house team of investment professionals oversees the company’s investment portfolio.
Segments
Property and Casualty Insurance Segment
AFG’s property and casualty insurance operations provide a wide range of commercial coverages through 36 insurance businesses (as of December 31, 2024) that make up the Great American Insurance Group. AFG’s property and casualty insurance operations ultimately report to a single senior executive and operate under a business model that allows local decision-making for underwriting, claims and policy servicing in each of the niche operations. AFG’s property and casualty insurance operations are conducted through the subsidiaries.
Property and Casualty Insurance Products
AFG is focused on growth opportunities in more profitable specialty businesses where AFG personnel are experts in particular lines of business or customer groups. AFG is an innovator in risk sharing and alternative risk transfer programs for policyholders and agents. For example, AFG provides risk sharing alternatives in the passenger transportation, moving and storage and trucking industries, agency and group risk sharing programs, unique coverage options for workers’ compensation accounts that include higher retentions and specialty loss prevention and innovative commission structures for distribution partners who produce profitable business. These programs and offerings help align the interests of customers and distribution partners with AFG’s interests.
The following are examples of AFG’s specialty businesses grouped by sub-segment:
Property and Transportation
Agricultural-related: Federally reinsured multi-peril crop (allied lines) insurance covering most perils, as well as crop-hail, equine mortality and other coverages for full-time operating farms/ranches and agribusiness operations on a nationwide basis.
Commercial Automobile: Coverage for vehicles (such as buses and trucks) in a broad range of businesses, including the moving and storage and transportation industries, alternative risk transfer programs, a specialized physical damage product for the trucking industry, and other specialty transportation niches.
Property, Inland Marine and Ocean Marine: Coverage primarily for commercial properties, builders’ risk, contractors’ equipment, property, motor truck cargo, marine cargo, boat dealers, marina operators and dealers and excursion vessels.
Specialty Casualty
Excess and Surplus: Liability, umbrella and excess coverage for unique, volatile or hard-to-place risks, using rates and forms that generally do not have to be approved by state insurance regulators.
Executive and Professional Liability: Coverage for directors and officers of businesses and non-profit organizations, errors and omissions, cyber and mergers and acquisitions.
General Liability: Coverage for contractor-related businesses, energy development and production risks and environmental liability risks.
Targeted Programs: Coverage (primarily liability and property) for social service agencies, leisure, entertainment and non-profit organizations, customized solutions for other targeted markets and alternative risk programs using agency captives.
Umbrella and Excess Liability: Coverage in excess of primary layers.
Workers’ Compensation: Coverage for prescribed benefits payable to employees who are injured on the job.
Specialty Financial
Fidelity and Surety: Fidelity and crime coverage for government, mercantile and financial institutions and surety coverage for various types of contractors and public and private corporations.
Lease and Loan Services: Coverage for insurance risk management programs for lending and leasing institutions, including equipment leasing and collateral and lender-placed mortgage property insurance.
Trade Credit: Export and domestic trade credit insurance products for global trade and related financing activities.
AFG continually evaluates expansion in existing markets and opportunities in new specialty markets that meet its profitability objectives. Likewise, AFG will withdraw from markets that do not meet its profit objectives or business strategy.
Marketing
The property and casualty insurance group directs its sales efforts primarily through independent insurance agents and brokers, although small portions are written through employee agents. Independent agents and brokers generally receive a commission on the sale of each policy. Some agents and brokers are eligible for a bonus commission based on the overall profitability of policies or volume of business placed with AFG by the broker or agent in a particular year. The property and casualty insurance group writes insurance through several thousand agents and brokers.
Regulation
Privacy laws, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, affect AFG’s day-to-day operations. AFG is also subject to other federal laws, such as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the rules and regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
AFG operates in limited foreign jurisdictions where its operations are subject to regulation and supervision of the various jurisdictions. These regulations, which vary depending on the jurisdiction, include, among others, solvency and market conduct regulations, including Solvency II; anti-corruption and anti-terrorist financing guidelines, laws and regulations; various privacy, insurance, tax, tariff, trade and sanctions laws and regulations, including the EU and the U.K. General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’); and corporate, employment, intellectual property and investment laws and regulations. AFG has foreign insurance company subsidiaries domiciled in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands and branch operations in Canada and Singapore, all of which are subject to regulation by the insurance regulator of such jurisdiction.
History
American Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1872. The company was incorporated in 1997.