2017 was a record-setting year for Red River Mutual.

The Altona based insurance company registered 5.5 percent growth in its last fiscal year with $105 million in gross premiums written, marking the first time the company has surpassed the $100 million threshold.

That underwriting performance generated an $11.2 million underwriting profit and a net income of $11.7 million.

President and CEO Brian Esau says 2017 marks the second year in a row in which the company rang up a record performance on its operations, and much of that result is due to weather.

Brian Esau

"One of the things that does impact our business a lot is weather and for the last two years, we've been fortunate with a fairly benign weather situation. When I speak of weather
 I'm talking mostly about hail and winds. We've had an excellent experience in that category in the last two years."

Meanwhile, the overall financial health of the company continues to improve, according to Esau. He pointed out Red River Mutual's positive financial performance has allowed the company to continue to build on its equity position which now sits at $84.1 million.

"Over the last two years, we've been able to put a lot of our earnings into our equity situation. That puts us in a good position to move forward on many of the changes that are going to happen in our industry which will require investments in things like technology."

The company has made significant investments in technology over the past three years with much of that spent on a new insurance industry platform called Guidewire InsuranceSuite.

"Our commitment to this new platform stems from our desire to adapt to the way or brokers and policyholders want to conduct business with our company now and into the future," said board chair Ray Loewen. "Brokers and policyholders have higher expectations of technology than ever before and the future of insurance transactions will be increasingly driven by that technology."

About 90 per cent of the Red River Mutual's business across the prairies is in Manitoba. The company holds about 12 per cent of the market share in this province and is now licensed to write business from Ontario to British Columbia.

Meanwhile, Ray Loewen is stepping down as chairman of board after 9 years at the helm. Garth Reimer will succeed him as the new board chair.