US reinsurers see slight increase in premium

U.S. property/casualty reinsurers wrote $43.4 billion in net premium in the first nine months of 2019, an increase of less than 1% over the same period last year, the Reinsurance Association of America said Monday.

Measured by net premium written, the largest U.S. reinsurer by far was National Indemnity Co., a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which reported $19.33 billion in premium, followed by Everest Reinsurance Co. with $4.3 billion and Munich Reinsurance America Inc. with $4.05 billion.

The group of 17 reinsurers reported a combined ratio of 96.2% for the first nine months, an improvement from the 98.2% reported in the same period last year.

Policyholder surplus stood at $187.2 billion at the end of the third quarter 2019, up nearly 2% from the second quarter, the Washington-based RAA reported.