Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now

One of the benefits of attending the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B  ) shareholders' meeting is learning from the great value investors and Buffettologists who also make the yearly trek to Omaha. In this multipart series, Fool analyst Rex Moore speaks with Lawrence Cunningham, author of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America. The book offers a unique approach by arranging all of Buffett's shareholder letters thematically, rather than chronologically.

Today, Professor Cunningham explains why this thematic approach allows readers to see how Buffett's enduring principles apply in good times and bad.

What about the stock?
Thanks to the savvy of investing legend Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's book value per share has grown a mind-blowing 586,817% over the past 48 years. But with Buffett aging and Berkshire rapidly evolving, is this insurance conglomerate still a buy today? In The Motley Fool's premium report on the company, Berkshire expert Joe Magyer provides investors with key reasons to buy as well as important risks to watch out for. Click here now for instant access to Joe's take on Berkshire!

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now: Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FRFHF.PK)

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited (Fairfax) is a financial services holding company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, is principally engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and the associated investment management. The Company�� segments consist of Insurance, Reinsurance, Insurance and Reinsurance Other, Runoff, and Corporate and Other. On December 22, 2011, the Company completed the acquisition of 75% interests in Sporting Life Inc. On August 16, 2011, the Company acquired William Ashley China Corporation. On March 24, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of The Pacific Insurance Berhad. On February 9, 2011, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Fairfax completed the acquisition of First Mercury Financial Corporation. In October 2012, its RiverStone runoff subsidiary acquired all the outstanding shares of Brit Insurance Limited.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Infinity Group]

  With 515 million shares outstanding, this equates to 33% of all shares being shorted. It should also be noted that Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK) is holding 51.8 million BlackBerry shares. Prem Watsa stated at the annual FairFax shareholders meeting that Fairfax is holding a long position with BlackBerry and anticipates shareholder value increasing over the next 2-3 years. The cost basis for FairFax financial holdings is approximately $17 per BlackBerry share.

• [By Alex Jordon]

  There's talk that Prem Watsa, head of Fairfax Financial Holdings (FRFHF.PK), could possibly be involved in a privatization bid for the company. Consider:

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now: Prudential Financial Inc (PRH)

Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential Financial) is a financial services company. Prudential Financial has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company offers an array of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. It offers these products and services to individual and institutional customers through proprietary and third party distribution networks. Prudential Financial has two businesses: the Financial Services Businesses and the Closed Block Business. The Financial Services Businesses consists of its United States Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division, United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division, and International Insurance division, as well as its Corporate and Other operations. The Closed Block Business consists of the assets and related liabilities of the Closed Block described below and certain related assets and liabilities. On January 1, 2012, it merged with Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, Ltd (Gibraltar Life).

On February 1, 2011, Prudential Financial completed the acquisition from American International Group, Inc. (AIG), of AIG Star Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (Star), AIG Edison Life Insurance Company (Edison), and certain other AIG subsidiaries. In July 2011, it sold its global commodities business to Jefferies Group, Inc. In November 2011, it acquired an office building located in downtown Chicago's Central Loop. On December 06, 2011, the Company announced the sale of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services (PRERS), the Company's real estate brokerage and relocation services unit, to Brookfield Residential Property Services.

Financial Services Businesses

The Financial Services Businesses consist of three operating divisions, which together encompass six segments, and its Corporate and Other operations. The United States Retirement Solutions an! d Investment Management division consists of its Individual Annuities, Retirement and Asset Management segments. The United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division consists of its Individual Life and Group Insurance segments. The International Insurance division consists of its International Insurance segment. Its Corporate and Other operations include corporate items and initiatives that are not allocated to business segments, as well as businesses that have been or will be divested.

The Individual Annuities segment manufactures and distributes individual variable and fixed annuity products, primarily to the United States market. The Company�� annuity products are distributed through a diverse group of independent financial planners, wirehouses, banks, and insurance agents, including Prudential Agents and the agency distribution force of The Allstate Corporation (Allstate). It offers variable annuities that provide its customers with tax-deferred asset accumulation together with a base death benefit and a suite of optional guaranteed death and living benefits. Its variable annuity investment options provide the customers with the opportunity to invest in proprietary and non-proprietary mutual funds, frequently under asset allocation programs, and fixed-rate accounts. The Company�� prudential agents distribute variable annuities with proprietary and non-proprietary investment options, as well as fixed annuities. Its individual annuity products are also offered through a range of third party channels, including independent brokers, wirehouses, banks, and Allstate�� proprietary distribution force.

The Company�� retirement segment, which is referred as Prudential Retirement, provides retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Its full service business provides recordkeeping, plan administration, actuarial advisory services, tailored participant education and communicati! on servic! es, trustee services and institutional and retail investments. It services defined contribution, defined benefit and non-qualified plans. For participants leaving the clients��plans, it provides a range of rollover products through its broker-dealer, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, its bank, Prudential Bank & Trust, FSB (PB&T), and certain of its insurance companies. Its institutional investment products business offers guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), funding agreements, institutional and retail notes, structured settlement annuities, and group annuities, for defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans, non-qualified plans, and individuals.

The Company�� full service business offers plan sponsors and their participants a range of products and services to assist in the delivery and administration of defined contribution, defined benefit, and non-qualified plans, including recordkeeping and administrative services, comprehensive investment offerings and consulting services to assist plan sponsors in managing fiduciary obligations. As part of its investment products, it offers a range of general and separate account stable value products and other fee-based separate accounts, as well as retail mutual funds and institutional funds advised by affiliated and non-affiliated investment managers.

It also offers fee-based separate account products, through which customer funds are held in a separate account, retail mutual funds, institutional funds, or a client-owned trust. These products generally pass all of the investment results to the customer. In addition, it offers guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits associated with certain defined contribution accounts, and hedge certain of the related risks utilizing externally purchased hedging instruments. It also offers a range of rollover solutions, including individual retirement accounts, mutual funds, and guaranteed income products. Its rollover products and services are marketed to participants who ter! minate or! retire from organizations that are clients of its retirement plan recordkeeping services.

The Asset Management segment provides an array of investment management and advisory services by means of institutional portfolio management, mutual funds, asset securitization activity and other structured products, and strategic investments. These products and services are provided to the public and private marketplace, as well as its United States Individual Life and Group Insurance division, International Insurance division and Individual Annuities and Retirement segments, as well as the Closed Block Business. Its products and services include Public Fixed Income Asset Management, Public Equity Asset Management, Private Fixed Income Asset Management, Commercial Mortgage Origination and Servicing, Real Estate Asset Management, Strategic Investments, and Mutual Funds and Other Retail Services.

The public fixed income organization manages fixed income portfolios for United States and international, institutional and retail clients, as well as for its general account. Its products include traditional broad market fixed income strategies and single-sector strategies. It manages traditional asset-liability strategies, as well as customized asset-liability strategies. It also manages hedge strategies, as well as collateralized loan obligations. It also serves as a non-custodial securities lending agent. The public equity organization provides discretionary and non-discretionary asset management services to a range of clients. It manages an array of publicly-traded equity asset classes using various investment styles. The public equity organization is consisted of two wholly owned registered investment advisors, Jennison Associates LLC and Quantitative Management Associates LLC.

The private fixed income organization provides asset management services by investing in private placement investment grade debt, private placement below investment grade debt, and mezzanine debt securi! ties. The! se investment capabilities are utilized by its general account and institutional clients through direct advisory accounts, insurance company separate accounts, and private fund structures. The commercial mortgage operations provide mortgage origination, asset management and servicing for its general account, institutional clients, and government-sponsored entities, such as Fannie Mae, the Federal Housing Administration, and Freddie Mac. It also originated shorter-term interim loans for spread lending that are collateralized by assets generally under renovation or lease up

The global real estate organization provides asset management services for single-client and commingled private and public real estate portfolios and manufactures and manages a range of real estate investment vehicles investing in private and public real estate, primarily for institutional clients through 22 offices worldwide. Its domestic and international real estate investment vehicles range from fully diversified open-end funds to specialized closed-end funds that invest in specific types of properties or specific geographic regions or follow other specific investment strategies. The Company makes strategic investments to support the creation and management of funds offered to third-party investors in private and public real estate, fixed income and public equities asset classes. Other strategic investments are made with the intention to sell or syndicate to investors, including its general account, or for placement in funds and structured products that it offers and manages. It also makes loans to, and guarantees obligations of, the Company�� managed funds that are secured by equity commitments from investors or assets of the funds.

The Company manufactures, distributes and services investment management products primarily utilizing asset management expertise in the United States retail market. Its products are designed to be sold primarily by financial professionals, including both Prudential Agents an! d third p! arty advisors. It offers a family of retail investment products consisting of 41 mutual funds as of December 31, 2011. These products cover an array of investment styles and objectives designed to retain assets of individuals with varying objectives and to accommodate investors��changing financial needs. In addition, it offers banks and other financial services organizations a wealth management platform, which permits, such banks and organizations to provide their retail clients with services, including asset allocation, investment manager research and access, clearing, trading services, and performance reporting. The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division conducts its business through the Individual Life and Group Insurance segments. Its Individual Life segment manufactures and distributes individual variable life, term life and universal life insurance products primarily to the U.S. mass middle, mass affluent and affluent markets. During 2011, its primary insurance products are variable life, term life and universal life and represent 41%, 49% and 9%, respectively, of its face amount of individual life insurance in force, net of reinsurance.

The Group Insurance segment manufactures and distributes a range of group life, long-term and short-term group disability, long-term care, and group corporate-, bank- and trust-owned life insurance in the United States primarily to institutional clients for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans. Group Insurance also sells accidental death and dismemberment, preferred provider and indemnity dental and other ancillary coverages, and provides plan administrative services in connection with its insurance coverages. It offers group life insurance products, including employer-pay (basic) and employee-pay (voluntary) coverages. This portfolio of products includes basic and supplemental term life insurance for employees, optional term life insurance for dependents of employees and group universal life insurance. It also of! fers grou! p variable universal life insurance, basic and voluntary accidental death and dismemberment insurance and business travel accident insurance. It also offers a living benefits option that allows insureds that are diagnosed with a terminal illness to receive a portion of their life insurance benefit upon diagnosis, in advance of death, to use as needed.

The Company�� International Insurance segment manufactures and distributes individual life insurance, retirement and related products, including certain health products with fixed benefits. It provides these products to the broad middle income market across Japan through multiple distribution channels, including Life Advisors, who are associated with its Gibraltar Life operations. It also provides similar products to the mass affluent and affluent markets in Japan, Korea and other countries outside the United States through its Life Planner operations. It also offers variable life products in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Poland and interest-sensitive life products in all countries with the exception of Brazil and Mexico. In most of its operations, it also offers certain health products with fixed benefits, some of which include a high savings element. In addition, similar products are offered to the middle income market across Japan through Life Advisors, the distribution channel of the Company�� Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, Ltd. (Gibraltar Life) operation.

The Company�� international insurance operations offer various traditional whole life, term life, endowment policies, which provide for payment on the earlier of death or maturity and retirement income life insurance products that combine an insurance protection element similar to that of term life policies with a retirement income feature. It also offers variable life products in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Poland and interest-sensitive life products in all countries. It also offers certain health products with fixed benefits, as well as annuity products, which are primari! ly repres! ented by United States and Australian dollar-denominated fixed annuities in its Gibraltar Life operations.

Closed Block Business

The Closed Block Business includes liabilities for its individual in participating products, together with assets that are used for the payment of benefits and policyholder dividends, expenses and taxes with respect to these products. The Closed Block is 90% reinsured, including 7% by a wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial. During 2011, the Company also reinsured 90% of the short-term risks associated with the Closed Block policies to a wholly owned subsidiary of Prudential Financial.

Top Gold Companies To Invest In 2014: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Prudential Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers various financial products and services in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The company operates through three divisions: The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management, The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance, and The International Insurance and Investments. The U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management division provides individual variable and fixed annuity products, as well as offers retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. This division also provides investment management and advisory services to the public and private marketplace. The U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance division offers individual variable life, term life, and universal life insurance products; and group life, long-term and short-term group disability, long-term care, and group corporate-, bank-and trus t-owned life insurance products to institutional clients. This division also sells accidental death and dismemberment, and other ancillary coverages, as well as provides plan administrative services; and offers preferred provider and indemnity dental coverage plans to clients. The International Insurance and Investments division provides international individual life insurance products in Japan, Korea, and other foreign countries; and offers proprietary and non-proprietary asset management, investment advice, and services to retail and institutional clients internationally. In addition, the company engages in real estate brokerage franchise business, which involves marketing its franchises to the real estate companies. Further, it provides institutional clients and government agencies with various services in connection with the relocation of their employees. Prudential Financial, Inc. was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sofia Horta e Costa]

  Prudential Plc (PRU), the U.K.�� biggest insurer, lost 0.9 percent to 1,145 pence. The company said that the profit margin on new business at its U.S. unit narrowed to 54 percent of the annual premium equivalent in the first quarter, from 64 percent a year earlier. The annual premium equivalent is calculated as all the regular payments plus 10 percent of any lump-sum payments that the insurer received during the reporting period. The shares have still rallied 33 percent so far this year.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Rising long-term rates, however, would help boost insurers' income. Already, you've seen Prudential (NYSE: PRU  ) and Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG  ) hit multiyear highs as their shares have anticipated the climb in rates. If that trend continues, then the boost to portfolio income could be substantial enough to provide nice earnings growth, leading to further share-price appreciation even without an expansion in their earnings multiples.

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  Many of the problems MetLife and its peers have faced recently stem from products beyond vanilla life-insurance policies. A Moody's report last month discussed how MetLife, along with rivals Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG  ) and Prudential (NYSE: PRU  ) , failed to protect against all the risks involved in the variable-annuity products they offered customers. By assuming that more customers would drop their annuities than actually did, MetLife and its peers have had greater-than-expected guarantee obligations under the annuities.

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now: AmTrust Financial Services Inc (AFSI)

Amtrust Financial Services, Inc., incorporated on November 7, 1990, is a holding company. The Company is a multinational specialty property and casualty insurer focused on generating consistent underwriting profits. The Company operates in four business segments: small commercial business, specialty program and personal lines reinsurance. The Company transacts business through 11 insurance company subsidiaries: Technology Insurance Company, Inc. (TIC), Rochdale Insurance Company (RIC), Wesco Insurance Company (WIC), Associated Industries Insurance Company, Inc. (AIIC), Milwaukee Casualty Insurance Company (MCIC), Security National Insurance Company (SNIC), AmTrust Insurance Company of Kansas, Inc. (AICK) and AmTrust Lloyd�� Insurance Company of Texas (ALIC). In January 2013, the Company acquired First Nonprofit Companies, Inc. In February 2013, the Company's subsidiary acquired Car Care Plan (Holdings) Limited (CCPH) from Ally Insurance Holdings, Inc.

Small Commercial Business

Small Commercial Business segment provides workers��compensation to small businesses that operate in low and medium hazard classes, such as restaurants, retail stores, physicians and other professional offices, and commercial package and other property and casualty insurance products to small businesses. The Company is authorized to write its Small Commercial Business products in all 50 states. The Company distributes its policies through a network of over 8,100 select retail and wholesale agents who are paid commissions based on the annual policy premiums written. Commercial package products provide a range of insurance to small businesses, including commercial property, general liability, inland marine, automobile, workers��compensation, and umbrella coverage.

The Company maintains Small Commercial Business property and casualty claims operations in several of its domestic offices and the commercial package claims operation is separated into four processing units: casualty, propert! y, cost-containment/recovery and a fast-track physical damage unit. As of December 31, 2012, its Small Commercial Business property and casualty claims were approximately 61% automobile and 13% property and inland marine with the remaining 26% involving general liability and umbrella losses.

Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty

The Company��Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty segment provides coverage for consumer and commercial goods and custom designed coverages, such as accidental damage plans and payment protection plans offered in connection with the sale of consumer and commercial goods in the United States and Europe, and certain niche property, casualty and specialty liability risks in the United States and Europe, including general liability, employers��liability and professional and medical liability. specialty risk business primarily covers, such as legal expenses in the event of unsuccessful litigation; property damage for residential properties; home emergency repairs caused by incidents affecting systems, such as plumbing, wiring or central heating; latent defects that materialize on real property after building or completion; payment protection to insureds if they become unable to meet financial obligations under finance contracts; guaranteed asset protection (GAP) to cover the difference between an insurer�� settlement and the asset value in the event of a total loss, and general liability, employers��liability, public liability, negligence of advisors and liability of health care providers and medical facilities.

The Company's extended warranty business covers selected consumer and commercial goods and other risks, including personal computers; consumer electronics, such as televisions and home theater components; consumer appliances, such as refrigerators and washing machines; automobiles (excluding liability coverage); furniture, and heavy equipment. The Company also serve as a third party administrator to provide claims handling and ca! ll center! services to the consumer products and automotive industries in the United States and Canada. It underwrites the specialty risk coverage on a coverage plan-level basis, which involves substantial data collection and actuarial analysis, as well as analysis of applicable laws governing policy coverage language and exclusions.

Specialty Program

The Company�� Specialty Program segment provides workers��compensation, package products, general liability, commercial auto liability, excess and surplus lines programs and other specialty commercial property and casualty insurance to a narrowly defined, homogeneous group of small and middle market companies. The type of risk covered by this segment is similar to the type of risk in Small Commercial Business but also covers, to a small extent, certain higher risk businesses. The coverage is offered through accounts with various agents to multiple insureds. Policyholders in this segment primarily include industries, such as retail, wholesale, service operations, artisan contracting, trucking, light and medium manufacturing, habitational and professional employer organizations. As of December 31, 2012, the Company underwrote 77 programs through 44 independent wholesale and managing general agents. Workers��compensation insurance consists approximately 33% of this business during the year ended December 31, 2012.

Personal Lines Reinsurance

The Company�� Personal Lines Reinsurance Segment has a 20% participation in the Personal Lines Quota Share, by which it receive 10% of the net premiums of the personal lines business. The Personal Lines Quota Share provides that the reinsurers, severally, in accordance with their participation percentages, will receive 50% of the net premium of the GMACI Insurers and assume 50% of the related net losses.

Top 5 Insurance Companies To Buy Right Now: Principal Financial Group Inc(PFG)

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services worldwide. The company?s Retirement and Investor Services segment provides retirement savings and related investment products and services, including a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services primarily to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. This segment offers products and services to businesses for defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services; and annuities, mutual funds, and bank products and services to the employees of its business customers and other individuals. Principal Financial Group?s Principal Global Investors segment offers a range of equity, fixed income, and real estate investments, as well as specialized overlay and advisory services to institutional inve stors. The company?s Principal International segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, institutional asset management, and life insurance accumulation products in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand. Principal Financial Group?s U.S. Insurance Solutions segment offers individual life insurance, as well as specialty benefits in the United States. Its individual life insurance products include universal and variable universal life insurance and traditional life insurance; and specialty benefit products comprise group dental and vision insurance, individual and group disability insurance, and group life insurance, as well as fee-for-service claims administration and wellness services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.