Bermuda insurance market on track to set record premium growth in 2012: A.M. Best

The Bermuda insurance market is on track to set record premium growth in 2012, according to a special report released by A.M. Best Co. Monday.

According to “Amid Tepid Returns, Bermuda Insurers Discover That It Is All Relative,” the Bermuda market posted $40.3 billion in net written premiums through Sept. 30 of this year, compared with $49.0 billion for the whole of last year. Although return on equity this year has been “relatively favorable,” the market is “delivering returns at nearly half the peak level reached a few years ago, and the intermediate term outlook will be challenging given current investment yields,” the report said.

But the report also noted that the market’s underwriting performance has been strong, with the market as a whole reporting an 88.6% combined ratio for the nine months that ended Sept. 30, compared with 106.4% for all of last year.

The report also notes the emergence of hedge fund-backed reinsurers in the Bermuda reinsurance market. It says these new reinsurers “are seeking to be nimble, and the plan is to oscillate between underwriting and investing opportunities.”