How this site computes bank and insurer ratios
Last updated November 4, 2026. Thresholds below are the ones the code uses today.
The Bank and Insurer Screener measures banks on return on tangible common equity, efficiency, tangible capital, funding and credit, and insurers on return on equity without AOCI, loss ratio, cost ratio, premium growth and leverage. Every figure comes from the company's latest 10-K, and a line the filing does not tag as one total is left blank. The colour tints are rules of thumb, not predictions.
What are the bank formulas?
| Measure | Definition | What it captures |
|---|---|---|
| Return on tangible common equity | Net income ÷ average (equity − preferred stock − goodwill − intangibles) | What owners earn on capital that is really there |
| Return on assets | Net income ÷ average total assets | How much each $1 of assets earns, whatever the funding |
| Efficiency ratio | Noninterest expense ÷ (net interest income + noninterest income) | The cost of earning each $1 of revenue; lower is better |
| Tangible capital | Tangible common equity ÷ (total assets − goodwill − intangibles) | The cushion against losses |
| Margin on assets | Net interest income ÷ average total assets | A plain stand-in for net interest margin |
| Loans to deposits | Loans ÷ deposits | How much of the funding is lent out |
| Allowance and charge-offs | Allowance for credit losses ÷ loans; net charge-offs ÷ average loans | How much loss is reserved and how much was taken |
| Price to tangible book | Market value ÷ tangible common equity | What the market pays for each $1 of real capital |
Net interest margin proper divides by earning assets, which filings do not tag the same way across banks, so this page divides by total assets and calls it margin on assets.
What are the insurer formulas?
| Measure | Definition | What it captures |
|---|---|---|
| Return on equity without AOCI | Net income ÷ average (equity − accumulated other comprehensive income) | Profit on the capital, without bond marks that move with rates |
| Loss ratio | Claims and benefits incurred ÷ net premiums earned | Underwriting quality; property and casualty writers only |
| Cost ratio | Total benefits, losses and expenses ÷ total revenues | The share of revenue the business spends |
| Pre-tax margin | (Revenues − benefits, losses and expenses) ÷ revenues | What is left before tax |
| Premium growth | Net premiums earned ÷ the year before − 1 | Whether the book is growing or shrinking |
| Premiums to equity | Net premiums earned ÷ equity without AOCI | How much underwriting sits on each $1 of capital |
| Leverage | Total assets ÷ equity | Balance-sheet size against capital |
| Investment yield | Net investment income ÷ average invested assets | What the float earns |
The loss ratio is shown only for property and casualty writers. Life, health and mixed groups such as Loews and Assurant carry benefits that do not sit on a comparable premium base, so the page shows a dash instead of a misleading number.
What are the colour bars?
| Measure | Green | Amber | Red |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on tangible common equity | 15% or more | 10% to 15% | Under 10% |
| Efficiency ratio | 55% or less | 55% to 65% | Over 65% |
| Tangible capital | 8% or more | 6% to 8% | Under 6% |
| Insurer return without AOCI | 15% or more | 8% to 15% | Under 8% |
| Loss ratio | 60% or less | 60% to 68% | Over 68% |
The bars are this site's rules of thumb, not published standards. They are applied to measures where a better direction is clear whatever the business model; margin, funding, credit lines, growth and price are shown with no tint. The number is always printed beside the colour. Open the Bank and Insurer Screener to see them applied.
Where does the data come from, and what is left out?
Income-statement and balance-sheet line items come as filed from each company's 10-K through the SEC's company-facts data on SEC EDGAR, and are refreshed with the weekly data update. Market value comes from the screener's price data. A ratio outside a plausible range, which usually means a filing used a tag for a different line item, is dropped rather than shown.
The universe is the banks and deposit-taking lenders and the property and casualty, life and mixed insurers in this site's list of stocks. Insurance brokers, asset managers, payment networks, REITs and Erie Indemnity are left out because they earn fees and carry no lending or underwriting book. Wells Fargo shows dashes for loan lines because its filing does not tag a single loan total.
What are the limits?
The ratios use annual filings, so they can be up to a year old, and a bank can change quickly between reports. Regulatory capital such as CET1, net interest margin on earning assets and the combined ratio are reported quarterly in company presentations rather than as clean tags in the 10-K, so this page uses the closest figures the annual filing supports. Compare a bank with similar banks and an insurer with the same kind of insurer.
A strong reading is not a recommendation. Banks and insurers are exposed to credit cycles, rates and catastrophes that a set of annual ratios cannot foresee.
Frequently asked questions
Why use tangible equity for banks?
Goodwill and intangibles come from past acquisitions and cannot absorb a loan loss. Removing them shows the return on the capital that is really there, and the price paid against it. Two banks with the same equity can have very different tangible equity.
Why is the insurer return measured without AOCI?
Accumulated other comprehensive income holds the market value changes of bonds, which swing with interest rates and say little about underwriting skill. Taking it out gives a steadier base for the return.
Is the cost ratio the same as the combined ratio?
No. The industry's combined ratio divides losses and underwriting expenses by premiums only. This page divides total benefits, losses and expenses by total revenues, which include investment income, so it reads lower than the combined ratio for the same insurer.
Why are the tint bars only on some measures?
A bar is set only where a lower or higher number is clearly better regardless of the business model. Margin, funding, credit lines, growth and price are shown without a tint because the right level depends on the bank or insurer.