Class of 2001 leads market

Top performers are all unburdened by the legacies of the soft market before 2002

Class of 2001 leads market

Reinsurers’ second quarter results produced little that was unexpected and testified to a relatively stable market. The unpleasant surprises in the form of large reserve increases for prior years at American Re and XL Re had already been revealed. With most companies producing double-digit returns on equity, there was little to excite analysts and investors. Accordingly, results conferences were unusually brief and even the frequently outspoken John Charman and Anthony Taylor, the respective chief executives of Axis and Montpelier, were quite subdued.