InsuranceIR's Blog

Yes, I’m back. More on that in a moment.

But first I wanted to observe that last week, Allstate Insurance* (NYSE:ALL) pre-announced catastrophe losses for April storms. In that release, the company also noted:

“In the future, Allstate plans to announce monthly and quarter-to-date estimates for catastrophe losses when monthly catastrophe losses are estimated to exceed $150 million. These announcements will inform investors who have a strong interest in the company’s catastrophe loss estimates when there is significant severity or frequency of catastrophe events. Over the past 10 years, Allstate had catastrophe losses exceeding $150 million in about 30 percent of months.”

I’ve talked about pre-releases in the past, for example in “To Pre-release or Not … That is the Question.”

Pre-releases serve several very important roles, not the least of which is helping companies focus their communications on business strategy by reducing investor uncertainty and minimizing distractions. Allstate’s “line in the sand” solution to the question of “when” a pre-release is appropriate is elegant in its simplicity. In my view it stands as a useful example of how a company might address this disclosure conundrum.

InsuranceIR Update

Without boring you with the details, the past few months have been complicated and busy! While nothing earth shattering, dangerous or untoward occurred, life challenges kept me very distracted — and then we moved into first quarter earnings season with lots of client work. The blog simply fell to the bottom of the list. (A sample “life challenge” was having the car hit in the rear by another car, deemed to be “totaled” and, therefore, needing replacement … but no one was hurt and the insurance claim was handled by Cincinnati Insurance** in its typically highly efficient and fair fashion … thanks folks! … so it was just time consuming.)

Expect a return to more regular posts.

*  Note: InsuranceIR does not have a business relationship with Allstate. 

** Full disclosure: Cincinnati Financial is not a client of InsuranceIR, but I served as the company’s investor relations officer from 2003-2009 and remain a Cincinnati Insurance policyholder (for good reason!).

Filed under: Excellent ideas from the real world, Investor Relations, Pre-releases |