RenaissanceRe Holdings Limited

As a result of the media and official scrutiny of the global credit crisis in the past few months, by far the most publicised of RenaissanceRe’s losses was the $167.2mn write off of the company’s 33% investment or ‘carrying value’ in Channel Re

The Bermudian insurance and reinsurance company RenaissanceRe saw its net income fall by 23.2% from a record result of US$797.1mn in 2006 to $612.5mn in 2007. It is useful to point out that while the reduction in net income is significant, the 2007 result is one of the best achieved by the company. This is particularly relevant over the last five years when the nature of RenaissanceRe’s core business – the writing of catastrophe related insurance and reinsurance – has been very much reflected in the extreme volatility of its net income figures. In 2004, for example, the company saw its net income figures fall by 74.8% to $164.2mn. A net loss of $264.8mn in 2005 represented a further deterioration in net income of 250.2%.