Arch Capital's Cycle-Management Capabilities Serving It Well

Arch Capital (NASDAQ:ACGL) continues to demonstrate why I regard it as among the best of the best insurance companies in the market. While the company's acquisition of AIG's (NYSE:AIG) mortgage insurance business (United Guaranty) was perhaps not universally lauded, I believe investors who understand the dynamics of the mortgage insurance and Arch Capital's strategy here will appreciate the value that it will add in the coming years - particularly as available returns in the primary insurance and reinsurance market are pretty lousy.

Arch Capital shares are up another 20% or so from when I last wrote about the company, beating broader insurance stock indices (like the Dow Jones U.S. Select Insurance Index) and other quality insurers like Chubb (NYSE:CB) and W.R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) (XL Group (NYSE:XL) has done a fair bit better). The shares certainly aren't cheap on a conventional book value multiple basis, but I do believe and expect that Arch Capital's diversification into mortgage insurance and careful management of its insurance and reinsurance businesses can support high single-digit to low double-digit growth at a time when many other insurers are going to be hard-pressed. Granted, I don't think these shares are undervalued on a discounted earnings basis either, but they're not out of line if you believe in management's guidance and this management team has given investors few reasons for persistent pessimism.

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Arch Capital's Cycle-Management Capabilities Serving It Well