BOARD CHARACTERISTICS, OWNERSHIP CONCENTRATION AND THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF EUROPEAN LISTED INSURANCE COMPANIES: NEW EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

The research aims to appraise the interplay between several features of corporate governance and company financial results, as well as the impact of board characteristics and ownership credentials on the size and performance of European companies operating in insurance, reinsurance, and pension funding. Data was extracted from the Orbis database for a newly compiled sample of 6,096 active firms in 2015-2022 (according to the last available year). The methodological approach was based on robust regression with Huber and biweight iterations and network analysis with Gaussian and Mixed-Markov graphical models. Main results revealed notable positive impacts of the number of directors, managers, and shareholders on firms' financial results. Instead, the ownership concentration, namely the board independence, negatively influenced the performance of the European insurance companies, with a less significant impact on their operating revenue and profitability.