04 Jun, 2026
NAIC quarterly mandate to trump any SEC reporting changes for insurers
By Hailey Ross
 The US SEC, headquartered in Washington, DC, proposed in May a semiannual reporting option for public companies. |
As the US SEC looks to eliminate mandatory quarterly reporting requirements for public US companies, experts suggest it will be business as usual for insurance companies when it comes to making quarterly reports to the federal agency.
The SEC proposed a rule in May allowing public companies to just file semiannual earnings reports rather than quarterly, after President Donald Trump raised the issue in late 2025.
Regardless of any changes the SEC may make to its reporting requirements, insurance companies are still mandated to file quarterly reports with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the majority of which are then made publicly available.
"The practical impact of eliminating SEC quarterly reporting requirements may be more limited" for the insurance industry versus other sectors since insurers "already operate within a highly regulated financial reporting framework," Loretta Worters, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, said in an email to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
"For that reason, I would generally expect many publicly traded insurers to continue providing quarterly updates and likely continue quarterly earnings calls, even if the SEC were to reduce or eliminate mandatory 10-Q requirements," Worters said. "Public companies still have strong incentives to maintain transparency with investors and analysts, particularly given the importance of capital adequacy, catastrophe exposure, reserve development and investment portfolio performance to market confidence."
Insurers' perspectives
It is "too early to tell" what the impact would be or "how it would change how we conduct ordinary course of business," said a spokesperson for a major US-based property and casualty insurer who requested anonymity during a phone conversation.
However, the spokesperson also said that "certainly, our lawyers are looking at it just like everybody else's."
Principal Financial Group Inc. said in an email statement that the insurer believes "regular earnings reporting supports discipline, transparency and shareholder engagement," factors which drive both "investor trust and market confidence."
"The right candence should provide shareholders with the information they need to understand performance and make informed decisions," Principal said. "If the new rule is formally adopted, Principal anticipates maintaining its quarterly reporting cadence while monitoring peer approaches and evaluating any changes as warranted."
In response to a request for comment, the NAIC provided the following statement via email:
"Because the SEC's proposal to eliminate quarterly reporting is currently in the proposal stage, the NAIC would not be able to provide comment at this time."
By contrast, some insurance companies take a different approach from most by choosing to report certain statistics on a more frequent basis. For example, The Progressive Corp. reports results monthly, including net income, net premiums earned and written, policies in force and combined ratio figures. The property and casualty company has been providing monthly reports for more than two decades, and the reporting format has largely remained the same.
Meanwhile, The Allstate Corp. began releasing monthly results a few years ago, initially including information on catastrophe losses and later including the number of policies in force. However, in April, Allstate said it had made the decision to stop including policies in force in monthly reports, although the information will still be available in quarterly earnings releases. The insurer cited consistent growth in policies in force since March 2025 and market share increases for both auto and homeowners as reasons it would no longer provide monthly updates on policies in force.
NAIC quarterly reports
In addition to quarterly generally accepted accounting principles earnings reports made to the SEC, insurers are also mandated to file quarterly statutory reports to the NAIC.
GAAP reports require the same set of core statistics. However, there is no standardization when it comes to the reporting of segments and business lines, causing the information in the reports to greatly vary. For example, an insurer could share information about its commercial and personal lines segments but offer no information related to a breakdown of geography.
Conversely, statutory reporting is highly standardized, and insurers must follow a rigid set of guidelines that require more granular information about their business. Statutory reports are publicly available, though their availability typically lags the public release of GAAP reports.
There are exceptions. New Jersey has a unique state law on its books that imposes stronger restrictions on the public availability of data for insurers domiciled in the state.
New Jersey's Title 17 statute requires that every insurance company file quarterly statements with the NAIC's formatting, but it explicitly states that "quarterly statements shall be confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection or copying."
Birny Birnbaum, executive director for the Center for Economic Justice and a longtime consumer advocate, said in an email that the New Jersey law is "bizarre." Birnbaum suggested that the statute was most likely the product of efforts made by New Jersey-specific health insurers or mutual insurers.
"It would make no sense for a publicly traded insurer to claim its quarterly financial statement as confidential — both because much of the information is included in a 10-Q and because it would leave a hole in the financial view into a multistate insurer," Birnbaum said.
Minnesota, too, has had a similar rule on its books, though it was not entirely enforced until recently. Jen Longaecker, media relations and public affairs director for the Minnesota Department of Commerce, said in an email that under Minnesota Statutes, section 62D.08, subdivision 6, quarterly financial statements for health maintenance organizations are designated as nonpublic data.
"The Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Department of Health were made aware earlier this year that this data was inadvertently being made available through an NAIC portal and worked with the NAIC to ensure that any data released complies with Minnesota state law," Longaecker said.
The SEC's proposal would make quarterly reporting optional under federal securities laws and instead allow public companies to submit one semiannual report and one annual report.
A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment beyond what has already been stated in the agency's May 5 press release and other "public filings on the matter."