Impact of Board Characteristics and Risk Management on Financial Performance of Listed Insurance Firms in Nigeria

The study examined the impact of board characteristics and risk management on financial performance of listed insurance firms in Nigeria for the period of 2012-2017. The study adopted correlational research design. The study used data extracted from annual reports of listed insurance firms in Nigeria. The study was anchored on the risk management theory and resources dependence theory to establish conceptual relationship between the variable .The population of the study comprised of the 30 listed insurance firms in Nigeria and 26 adjusted population was arrive based on availability of data. The data collected were analyzed with the aid of paneled regression. The findings revealed that solvency risk and underwriting risk have negative and significant relationship with financial performance of listed insurance firms. Based on the findings, the study recommends that Insurance firms should offer adequate diversification of insurance policy portfolio to have better premium earning that can compensate other loss when it’s occurred. Hence, insurance companies should give due attention on these areas to reduce the effect of underwriting risk for their performance and should also strive to attract more customers and boost their income through provision of enhanced estimation technique on insurance policy premium price to maximize their net premium earning and net asset. Since the country is growing and transforming into the age of industry with the existing paid up capital, it will be likely for insurance companies to face solvency risk.