Reinsurers full of hope

But few companies were willing to quantify the extent of the predicted market hardening or to say which lines of business would take the lead. Others hailed current market conditions as an historical precedent comparable with the hard market created by the stock market collapse in the 1970s

The global financial crisis has done more to renew the spirits of reinsurers than any amount of catastrophe losses over the last few years. Without exception, and even as they announced sharp declines in profits, companies expressed confidence that the entire market would experience a durable hardening of rates.