THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN EVALUATION THE FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF INSURANCE COMPANIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the financial performance of insurance companies by applying an alternative financial metric in combination with cash flows. The sample includes 16 insurance companies operating in the Republic of Serbia during the period between 2017 and 2021. The authors provide evidence that indicators based on cash flows provide greater informational value compared to earnings measures based solely on accrual categories. It was found that the majority of the observed insurance companies have a value of earnings quality indicators greater than 0 during the five-year period. There are fluctuations in the values of earnings quality indicators, but they are not statistically significant. The research results may be of interest to insurance company managers, investors, analysts, and other stakeholders.

Keywords: insurance companies, non-standardized financial indicators, cash flows, evaluation, Republic of Serbia.
JEL classification: M41, G22