Financial Objectives
Financial Objectives include:
Profitability
Progressive's most important goal is for our insurance subsidiaries to produce an aggregate calendar-year underwriting profit of at least 4%. Our business is a composite of many product offerings defined in part by product type, distribution channel, geography, customer tenure, and underwriting grouping. Each of these products has targeted operating parameters based on level of maturity, underlying cost structures, customer mix, and policy life expectancy. Our aggregate goal is the balanced blend of these individual performance targets in any calendar year.
Growth
Our goal is to grow as fast as possible, constrained only by our profitability objective and our ability to provide high-quality customer service. Progressive is a growth-oriented company and management incentives are tied to profitable growth.
We report Personal Lines and Commercial Auto results separately. We further break down our Personal Lines' results by channel (Agency and Direct) to give shareholders a clearer picture of the business dynamics of each distribution method and their respective rates of growth. Aggregate expense ratios and aggregate growth rates disguise the true nature and performance of each business.
Source: Progressive's 2008 Annual Report
Last updated: February 25, 2009
