Endurance Specialty reports profits, president of insurer resigns

PEMBROKE, Bermuda—Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. announced Wednesday that President William M. Jewett had stepped down as president and would resign from the company board on May 10.

The announcement came shortly after the Pembroke, Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer reported profits of $74.4 million in the first quarter of 2012 compared with a $91.3 million loss in the same period a year earlier. Endurance reported net premiums of $843.1 million during the quarter, an increase of 5.5% over a year earlier, and a combined ratio of 96.5% compared with 139.3% during the same period of 2011.

“The first quarter was a good start to the year with strong earnings, growth in book value, and improving market conditions,” said Endurance CEO David Cash in a statement.

“Within our agriculture insurance line of business, we achieved double-digit policy count growth, with increased penetration in attractive Midwestern states. Our reinsurance business had a strong Jan. 1 renewal, achieving robust renewal retentions, solid organic growth in our developing international reinsurance units, and an improved catastrophe portfolio with higher pricing and reduced exposures,” he said.

Jewett’s departure

Regarding Mr. Jewett’s departure, Mr. Cash—who is assuming the title of president in addition to his title of CEO—said in statement that Mr. Jewett “has been a key part of Endurance from its early days and we all owe him significant thanks for his contributions to the company. Bill led the build-out of our U.S. reinsurance operations before going on to lead our reinsurance expansion into Europe and Asia.”

"Over the past 10 years I have been a part of Endurance’s expansion from a focused Bermuda specialty company into a strong and credible international insurer and reinsurer,” said Mr. Jewett in the statement.