Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE), Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL) Top P&C Insurance Picks of Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Among the US P&C insurance universe covered by Barclays (NYSE:BCS), their top picks are Travelers (NYSE:TRV), ACE (NYSE:ACE) and Arch Capital (Nasdaq:ACGL).

Barclays said, "preliminary look at our proprietary Commercial P&C Insurance Buyers' Survey shows expectations for pricing to decline modestly in early 2011. The most recent update to our bi-annual Buyers' Survey, which we have been conducting since 2000, so far consists of interviews with 40 risk managers with a 40% response rate. Our survey primarily consists of large national accounts. Almost half of the respondents renewed (or will renew) their insurance programs in 4Q10 with the rest preparing to renew in 1H11.

"Commercial P&C insurance prices are expected to fall 4% year-over-year at the January 2011 renewals, in line with the result six months ago based on our initial responses....

"The vast majority (77%) of respondents we surveyed said the P&C market is now soft vs. 56% six months ago..."

"Policy terms and conditions were mostly stable, with three-quarters of respondents expecting no change vs. a year ago....

Travelers closed Thursday at $54.63, down $0.43, or 0.78 percent. Ace ended the session at $59.50, up $0.10, or 0.17 percent. Arch Capital closed at $89.50, down $0.07, or 0.08 percent.