Market turmoil hits Euro reinsurers’ capital

Referring to the litany oflosses being reported by competitiors, Odyssey Re’s chief executive Andrew Barnard said: “Reaching for (investment) yield to enhance operating performance has been revealed as a costly practice and, at some companies, utterly destructive of value.” Odyssey Re was the only company able to report an increase in pre-tax profits for the nine months to September

Europe’s big three reinsurers – Hannover Re, Munich Re and Swiss Re - may not have been disturbed very much by Hurricane Ike but they were certainly not spared the third quarter’s financial storms with only Munich Re succeeding in making a profit.