Berkley

Berkley
is one of the publicly traded companies having a good stock performance result. Berkley is a fortune 500 stock listed company trading under BER.

W. R. Berkley Corporation, founded in 1967 is one of the nation’s premier commercial lines property casualty insurance providers. Each of the operating units in the Berkley group participates in a niche market requiring specialized knowledge about a territory or product. The long-term strategy of decentralized operations, allows the company to identify and respond quickly and effectively to changing market conditions and local customer needs.

In March 7, 2006 W. R. Berkley Corporation appoint Ms. Mary C. Farrell as Director, restoring the number of board members to 10 and increasing the number of independent directors to 8.

For specialty operations, 2005 was the most profitable year for company. The year ended with over 9 billion dollars in gross written premiums and 346 million dollars in pre-tax income, representing an increase of 25 percent over the previous year. Return on equity was 21 percent and the segment-wide combined ratio was 88 percent. In 2005 the company had record earnings and an outstanding return on capital causes to strengthen the balance sheet of the company ,ultimately investing in future. The products offered by the company are geared to their specific territory. They sell agricultural related products in the Midwest and products designed for the lumber industry in the Northeast.

In Mar 07, 2006 W. R. Berkley Corporation has approved a 3-for-2 common stock split to be paid in the form of a stock dividend to holders of record on March 20, 2006. The additional shares are expected to be issued on April 4, 2006. Company also declared a regular quarterly cash dividend on its pre-split common stock of 6cents per share, also to be paid on April 4, 2006 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 20, 2006. The cash dividend has been increased to an annual rate of 24 cents per share, representing an increase of 20 percent from the prior year's rate. At March 1, 2006, W. R. Berkley Corporation had 128,010,395 shares of common stock outstanding.

The company has the expertise and resources to utilize their strengths in the present environment, and the flexibility to anticipate, innovate and respond to whatever opportunities and challenges the future may hold. The focus is given to every detail, every day by all of individuals of the company. This has made possible for the company   

 to position well in the market.