ABIR Members Made $11.9bn Profits In 2010
The 22 firms belonging to the the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers [ABIR] wrote nearly $62 billion in global gross written premium on a capital and surplus base of $90 billion in 2010, reporting net profits of $11.4 billion.
The gross premium to equity ratio for the group as a whole was .69 to 1.
ABIR today [Apr. 15] released the 2010 global underwriting results for its 22 member companies which write insurance and reinsurance from underwriting centres in Bermuda, Europe and the US.
Despite large catastrophe losses in 2010, the shareholders’ equity of the ABIR members has continued to grow – rising from $84.4bn at year-end 2009 to $90bn at year-end 2010. The growth in capital and surplus despite a series of large loss events demonstrates the strong capital position of these companies.
ABIR also revealed that its members and other Bermuda insurers and reinsurers absorbed 38 percent of the reported claims liabilities for Chile’s 2010 earthquake; 51 percent of the reported claims liabilities for New Zealand’s 2010 earthquake; and 14 percent of the reported claims liabilities for the internationally reinsured share of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
ABIR represents Class 4 property and casualty insurers and reinsurers with principal underwriting operations in Bermuda. Its membership includes ACE Limited, Allied World Assurance, AXIS Specialty, Endurance Specialty Insurance, Montpelier Reinsurance, Olympus Re, Partner Reinsurance, Renaissance Reinsurance, Starr Excess Liability and XL Capital.
Arch Capital CEO Dinos Iourdanou is ABIR’s current president. The association association employs 31,000 globally including 800 people in Bermuda
ACE Ltd. was by far the dominant Bermuda-based insurance company, according to the figures released today ABIR. The firm was responsible for almost one-third of total gross premiums written in 2010– $19.5 billion.
ACE had total equity of almost $23 billion in 2010, with XL Group second with total equity of $10.6 billion. The firm had net income of $3.1 billion in 2010.
XL Group wrote $6.7 billion in gross premiums in 2010, second most among ABIR’s membership, but its net income was only $643.4 million.
Axis Capital Holdings was second among the group in terms of net income, reporting profits of $856.7 million..
The group of companies posted growth in premiums of only three percent from 2007 to 2010. Reported global gross written premium was nearly $60 billion in 2007 and nearly $62 billion in 2010.
