Reinsurers See Drops In Surplus, Combined Ratio, RAA Reports

U.S. reinsurers took a beating in their surplus during the first half, seeing a drop of $6.9 billion from last year—down 9.5 percent to $65.9 billion in 2009—but their combined ratio improved by 3.7 points, according to the Reinsurance Association of America.

The group of 19 U.S. property and casualty reinsurers surveyed by the Washington-based RAA wrote $12.8 billion of net premiums during the six months ended June 30, 2009, up slightly compared to $12.7 billion for the same period in 2008, the study found.

The combined ratio for the group was 93.8—a 3.7-point improvement from the 97.5 consolidated figure reported by a similar group of reinsurers for the six months ended June 30, 2008, RAA said. The ratio is attributable to a 65.4 loss ratio and a 28.4 expense ratio.

Among some of the net written premiums for carriers cited in the report:

• National Indemnity Company wrote $2.59 billion for the first half, down from $2.7 billion in 2008.

• Transatlantic/Putnam Reinsurance Company wrote $1.88 billion this year, compared with $1.85 billion in 2008.

• Munich Re America wrote $1.2 billion in 2009, up from $1.08 billion in 2008.

• SCOR U.S. Group/SCOR Re reported net written premiums for 2009 of $285 million, up from $185 million in 2008.

• White Mountains Reinsurance Company of America reported net premiums written in 2009 were $243 million, down from $296 million in 2008.

The survey is available at http://www.reinsurance.org.

RAA membership is diverse, including reinsurance underwriters and intermediaries licensed in the United States and those that conduct business on a cross-border basis. The RAA represents its members before state, federal and international bodies.