Mei-Ling Zhao

Mei-Ling Zhao brings actuarial precision to insurance sector investing. As a credentialed actuary (FSA, MAAA) who worked for Allstate and Swiss Re before entering sell-side research, she understands insurance economics at a level few equity analysts can match. Mei-Ling excels at parsing complex insurance accounting, evaluating reserve adequacy, and assessing underwriting discipline—skills that helped her identify troubled insurers before their problems became public. She was early to recognize how climate change would stress P&C insurers and how aging demographics would create opportunities in life insurance and annuities. Her graduate work in statistics at UC Berkeley combined with her CFA charter gives her a quantitative edge in analyzing catastrophe models and pricing adequacy. Mei-Ling also tracks the insurtech revolution, evaluating which digital disruptors have sustainable business models versus those burning cash on customer acquisition. Writing from Chicago, she brings mathematical rigor and industry depth to an often-overlooked sector. Her analysis is must-reading for investors seeking to understand insurance's hidden complexities.