Reinsurers wipe out capital losses

There is now less concern about capital among companies. At the end of June, the combined shareholders’ equity of the 11 companies which have reported so far is $6.4bn or 14.4% higher than at the end of 2008. So, with the exception of XL, all have largely made good the losses inflicted by the capital markets last year

The change in direction of the financial markets in the second quarter of 2009 put a strong tailwind in the sails of reinsurers. Even where it did little to assist profits, it boosted shareholder value in every case and this is becoming the measure by which most companies prefer to be judged. Underwriting performance was almost an irrelevance by comparison.