US REINSURERS POST 51% DECLINE IN NINE-MONTH INCOME

The 19 member companies of the Reinsurance Association of America saw net earnings for the first nine months of the year decline by 51% to $1.33bn, largely reflecting a swing to $2.52bn in net realized capital losses from year-earlier gains of $449.8m and a 1.5% drop in net earned premiums to $18.73bn. Partially offsetting those factors, underwriting results swung to a gain of $703.1m from a prior-year loss of $1.02bn and investment income rose 5.8% to $4.77bn. The RAA companies, which write around two-thirds of gross US reinsurance business, saw their combined ratio improve to 95.1% from 104.2%.