ABSTRACT

Abstract

This study is to examines the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on financial performance of listed Insurance companies in Nigeria. The population of the study was 45 listed Insurance companies in Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) as at 31^st December, 2018. The study adopted ex post facto research design with panel data using Stata as the software and multiple regressions as tools for the analysis. It was found that there is presence of board independence in the insurance companies in Nigeria but failure to maintain good corporate governance mechanism can be a threat and can lead to declining in board independence. On the other hand, board size is on the increase in Nigeria insurance companies and board with sizeable number of female members perform better than board with little or no female board members. Based on these findings it was concluded that there is significant effect between corporate governance and financial performance of listed insurance companies in Nigeria. It was recommended that board independence should continue to be maintained in all insurance companies in Nigeria. Effort should be made to ensure that corporate governance practices is of high standard and conform to the global best practice, adherence to the ethics and codes of corporate governance in building shareholders and other stakeholder’s confidence so as to encourage positive investment flows into insurance market.

 Keywords: Accountability; Board independence; Corporate governance; Financial performance; Insurance.