Liberty Mutual’s CEO Kelly: “Insurance Stocks Stink”

Edmund "Ted" Kelly, chief executive of Liberty Mutual, said his company has no immediate plans to revive the initial public offering of a portion of its U.S. business that it pulled last year.

Source: Source: Dow Jones | Published on January 12, 2011

The company wanted to raise the money to make acquisitions as the economy improved, but shelved the plans because valuations on insurance stocks are too low to justify selling a portion of the company to outside investors.

"The market doesn't make any sense," Kelly said in an interview after an industry conference concluded in New York Tuesday. "Until there's more rational pricing, we're going to stay on the sidelines."

As a group, Kelly said, "insurance stocks stink."