U.S. reinsurer premiums up, combined ratio deteriorates in 9-month period: RAA

Premiums increased but the combined ratio worsened for the 18 U.S. property/casualty reinsurers included in the Reinsurance Association of America's nine-month underwriting results survey released Monday by the Washington-based group.

Net written premiums totaled $38.5 billion in the first nine months of 2014, up 86.0% from the same period last year. The jump was due to a large increase in premiums generated by Berkshire Hathaway Corp.'s Omaha, Nebraska-based National Indemnity Co., which http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20140717/NEWS04/140719871 entered into a multibillion-dollar retroactive reinsurance transaction with Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in July to cover asbestos-related and other long-term liabilities.

The group's combined ratio, however, deteriorated to 91.7% from 85.9% in the year-ago period. The combined ratio is attributable to a 71.4% loss ratio and an expense ratio of 20.4%, according to RAA.

The policyholder's surplus of $141.1 billion was down 1.3% from the second quarter.