Bermudian market: first nine months 2008

Third quarter figures for our sample of 20 leading Bermudian reinsurers were certain to be heavily impacted by cat losses and the downturn in the investment market, but gauging just how badly the companies did is made difficult by the different means individual players use to value their investments. Determining if an investment impairment is temporary or permanent makes a big difference to company figures, and explains why some are showing reasonable net profit figures before slipping to a heavy “comprehensive loss”.