<p>The extant literature on managerial ability of business firms mostly concentrated on across-industry measures of managerial ability and the impact of such factor on corporate behavior. In comparison, the objective of the present study is to explore the influence of idiosyncratic factors, time and ownership on managerial ability in the context of Indian general insurance industry. Further, the study examines the relationship between insurer profitability (as indicated by return on equity and return on asset) with solvency ratio and managerial ability. Since managerial is not directly observable, the study adopts a three-stage approach. In the first stage, the study adopts a non-parametric stochastic frontier approach for efficiency evaluation. followed by the estimation of managerial ability as the residual of the second-stage regression of efficiency scores on contextual variables. In the third and final stage, the relationship of return on equity and return on asset with solvency ratio and managerial ability is explored. The results indicate a significant and positive relationship of both return on equity and return on asset with managerial ability. However, the coefficient of solvency is significant in case of return on asset only. The results of the study are important for both researchers and insurance company stakeholders as it facilitates analysis of strength and weaknesses and the design of incentive compatible contracts.</p>