In the beginning…

     In the year 1907, 150 owners of tenement houses on the East Side of the City of New York formed a trade association to safeguard their interests which they named Greater New York Taxpayers Association. They were for the most part men of modest means, artisans, shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs with a scattering of professional people. The descendants of many of them are prominent today in the real estate industry in this city and nation.

     In the ensuing years the Association dealt with many issues but one of the more difficult ones was the reluctance of the old-line insurance companies to provide public liability insurance for the properties of its members. It was a period of increasing immigration into the country, crowded tenements, a surge of litigation, low premiums and an inability on the part of the carriers to cope with the mounting claims. And there finally came a day when no insurance at all was available.

     The Greater New York Taxpayers Association was active in pursuing alternatives. A delegation of members sought the aid of the then Superintendent of Insurance of the State in 1912. But government then was less benevolent and paternal than it is today. The delegation was told the Superintendent could do nothing.

     In early 1914 a meeting was held in the Stuyvesant Casino and the Association decided to form a Protective and Defense Committee. The Committee obligated itself to defend any claims or law suits asserted against a building registered with it for a relatively small fee, at the beginning $10, shortly thereafter raised to $25. The first building was registered with the Committee on June 1, 1914. In effect this was the first policy issued by our Company, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company, which over the years evolved from the Protective and Defense Committee of the Association.

     Today more than 87 years after the issuance of its first policy, Greater New York Insurance Companies consist of Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company and Insurance Company of Greater New York totaling close to a half billion dollars in assets. Greater New York Insurance Companies maintain an A+ (superior) rating from A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best Company, the premier insurance rating agency, in its most recent report dealing with the operations of the Greater New York Group (2001) affirmed the Group’s superior rating of A+. Best stated that this rating reflected the Group’s superior capitalization, strong overall earnings and solid marketing position as a leading writer of commercial package business, habitational, light industrial and office building risks in urban areas of the Northeast; that these strengths are derived from the Group’s low underwriting leverage, conservative investment and operating principles and solid underwriting performance of its leading line of business, commercial multiperil. In commenting on the Group’s financial performance, Best stated that the Group’s return on revenue has outpaced its peers by a wide margin, reflecting its very conservative operating leverage and substantial investment income, since invested assets are predominately in intermediate government bonds. Best commented that the investment philosophy of the Management of the Greater New York Group has remained stable with assets largely invested in government bonds, with an average life of about five years; and that compared with its peers, the Group has historically achieved a higher yield on investments. Best pointed out also that the Greater New York Group maintained strong capitalization with a Best Capital Adequacy Ratio that compares very favorably to its commercial casualty peers and which comfortably supported its rating. The Group’s BCAR ratio which deals with the strength of its balance sheet is so high, that in this respect it would qualify for an A++ rating.

     Best also notes that the Greater New York Group maintains lower credit risk, because of its higher premium retention rating and the use of high quality reinsurers; that the Company’s capital is only moderately exposed to a shock loss from severe weather problems. Favorable comment is also made by Best on the constant growth in policyholders’ surplus.

     The journey of the first 87 years has been long and arduous but it has proven to be enormously rewarding and successful.