ABIR CY 2013 Global Underwriting Results
Net Income Growth Due to Favorable Catastrophe Loss Experience

Hamilton, Bermuda (April 17, 2014) – The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) today released the 2013 global underwriting results for its member (re)insurers. Eighteen[1] of 21 member (re)insurers participated in this 2013 report. The companies write insurance and reinsurance from underwriting centers in Bermuda, Europe, Asia, and North and South America. The 18 (re)insurers wrote $70.1 billion (US) in global gross written premium (up from $66.4 billion in 2012) on a capital and surplus base of $95.4 billion (up from $95.2 billion[2] in 2012). The reported net income of nearly $11.7 billion was up from $9.4 billion in 2012. The gross premium to equity ratio for the group remained at .7 to 1.

“The $11.7 billion in net income demonstrated earnings power during a year characterized by low catastrophe losses. But this number was still below net income reported by the membership in 2009,” noted Bradley Kading, president and executive director of ABIR.

“ABIR members reported their largest group total equity base in the eight years in which data has been collected, even though the number of members reporting was reduced by one due to an acquisition completed in 2013,” Kading noted. “ABIR members have welcomed the interest of alternative capital providers including pension funds into the risk taking business and have focused in 2013 on expanding markets given the availability of new capital in taking on insurance and reinsurance risk,” Kading noted.

Attached File: ABIR member individual and aggregate results

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About ABIR: The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) represents 21 international insurers and reinsurers which have underwriting operations in Bermuda and around the world. The membership employed 35,000 people globally including 1,600 in Bermuda, 16,000 in the US, and more than 8,600 in Europe. For more information, please visit: www.abir.bm.

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[1] Alterra was purchased by Markel and is no longer an ABIR member and thus did not participate in the 2013 Global Underwriting Report. This affects comparative data on gross written premium, net income, and total equity.

[2] The near steady state of the reported total equity results primarily from the removal of Alterra’s total equity
number of nearly $3.3 billion from the 2013 data set.