OORIOld Republic International Corporation

Old Republic insures property title and commercial risks — two halves with different cycles.

Title insurance is tied to the number of property transactions: when mortgages are expensive the market freezes and income falls with it. The work consists of checking the history of rights in archives, the premium is paid once and the claims risk is small.

The second half is liability cover for hauliers, builders and employers: expertise sets the price, while the result is set by litigation trends, which change slowly and with a long lag. The halves rarely sag at once, and that is the point of the combination. The company has raised its dividend for decades and regularly pays special distributions.