The largest US property and casualty insurer by market value, Travelers Cos., has reported a 32 percent plunge in its first-quarter profit. The company reported a $662 million net income for the January-March quarter, as against the $967 million earnings a year before.

The company’s $175 million investment loss on “alternative” holdings - counting private equity and hedge fund investments – was a contrast to its same quarter earlier year pretax gain of $39 million. The company also suffered $107 million impairment on fixed income holdings

The Travelers Cos. $799 million operating income for the quarter - income excluding investment gains and losses – stood at $1.34 a share, surpassing the Thomson Reuters analysts’ estimates of $1.31 per share earnings. Net written premiums are also marginally up to $5.20 billion from the same quarter earlier year figures of $5.19 billion.

Surpassing American International Group (AIG) Inc. in market value last year, Travelers built cash by trimming share repurchases. The company’s CEO Jay Fishman is hopeful of opportunities for deploying capital as competitors are reallocating their portfolios and seeking to boost finances.

Analyst Paul Newsome, of Sandler O’Neill & Partners, said about travelers: “They’ve got the capital so they can do whatever they want. They could buy back more stock if they felt like it. They could make acquisitions. They could also grow by selling more policies.”