February 2007/2

Bermudian firm Max Re Capital reported a fourth consecutive profitable year on the back of record fourth quarter net income.

Aspen Insurance reported records for both the year and the quarter, with net income of $378.1mn and $119.5mn respectively.

PartnerRe also reported record net income for 2006 on the back of the unexpected calm hurricane season.

John Charman's AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd beat consensus estimates and reported record results for last year on the back of the benign catastrophe season.

French reinsurer SCOR has said that following last year’s rating upgrades into the crucial “A” territory it has “largely recovered its shares of business lost in 2002-2003”.

German reinsurer Hannover Re reported premium growth of 2 percent in its total property and casualty reinsurance portfolio for the January renewals.

The growing interest amongst investors for exposure to the insurance sector has encouraged rating agency Fitch Ratings to form a new group that will rate all forms of insurance-linked securities (ILS).

Ironshore Insurance Ltd, the Bermuda-based $1bn insurer formed by the father-and-son team Bob and John Clements at the tail end of last year, has received an A- (Excellent) rating from AM Best.

Besso Holdings Ltd, the London market broker which is set to announce a leap in profits for 2006, has appointed an adviser to consider its offers which could involve the sale of its shares.

Aon Corp posted flat fourth quarter net income of $224mn with broking revenues up 7 percent to $1.5bn in its annual results.

It was a case of from one extreme to the other as XL Capital bounced back from 2005's record losses to report a record net income of $1.76bn for 2006.

The first sign of the magnitude of last month’s Florida legislation for reinsurers emerged with Bermudian RenaissanceRe paring back growth targets for 2007 managed property cat reinsurance by 20 percent...