2006 top 35 global reinsurance groups.For the second year, Munich Re Munich Re AG, in German Münchener Rück AG (ISIN: DE0008430026), is the world's second largest reinsurance company with over 5,000 customers in 160 countries and has its headquarters in Munich, Germany. , Swiss Re Swiss Re is the world’s largest reinsurer, now that it has acquired GE Insurance Solutions (Ligi 2006). Founded in 1863, Swiss Re now operates in more than 30 countries. General Electric owns 8.9% of the firm. Group, Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA, NYSE: BRKB) is a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. Group, Hannover Re Hannover Re (FWB: HNRGn), in German Hannover Rückversicherung AG, with gross premium of around €9 billion in 2006, is one of the five largest reinsurance groups in the world. Its headquarters are in Hanover, Germany. and Lloyd's of London Not to be confused with Lloyds Bank or Lloyd's Register. Lloyd's of London is a British insurance market. It serves as a meeting place where multiple financial backers or “members”, whether individuals (traditionally known as held their respective top five positions in A.M. Best's ranking of the top 35 global reinsurer re·in·sure tr.v. re·in·sured, re·in·sur·ing, re·in·sures To insure again, especially by transferring all or part of the risk in a contract to a new contract with another insurance company. groups. Despite shifts in the rankings of the remaining top 35, the overall market concentration among the upper tiers of the top 35 held relatively constant in the 2006 ranking vs. the year before, adjusted for currency volatility Volatility 1. A statistical measure of the tendency of a market or security to rise or fall sharply within a period of time. 2. A variable in option pricing formulas that denotes the extent to which the return of the underlying asset will fluctuate between now and the . Looking ahead, however, corporate changes in 2006 already promise a shakeup shake·up n. A thorough, often drastic reorganization, as of the personnel in a business or government. Noun 1. shakeup in 2007's rankings. Ranked by 2005 gross written premium in U.S. dollars, 2006's top five groups accounted for 52% of total gross premium for the aggregate top 35, while the top 10 accounted for 74% of total gross premium. Those concentrations vary from 56% and 72% the year before; part of the shift was due to a strengthening U.S. dollar. Adjusted for the greenback's 16% increase against the euro, 12% rise against sterling, etc., the same concentrations in last year's report would have been 54% and 71%. In like manner, the drop in aggregate gross premium to $158 billion in the 2006 ranking from $172 billion in the 2005 ranking primarily was a currency translation issue. Net of last year's dollar gains, the prior year's aggregate gross premiums would have been $160 billion on a comparable basis. Foreign exchange volatility, however, did not affect the rankings of the top five. The top 10 gained two life reinsurance The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. groups, London London, city, Canada London, city (1991 pop. 303,165), SE Ont., Canada, on the Thames River. The site was chosen in 1792 by Governor Simcoe to be the capital of Upper Canada, but York was made capital instead. London was settled in 1826. Reinsurance Group and RGA RGA Reinsurance Group of America RGA Return Goods Authorization RGA Republican Governors Association RGA Residual Gas Analyzer RGA Royal Garrison Artillery RGA Restricted Growth Association (UK) RGA Rate Gyro Assembly Reinsurance Co., which displaced displaced see displacement. Everest Re Group and Transatlantic Holdings Inc. Group. Assuring a shift in the top rankings for 2007, Swiss Re Group's acquisition of GE Insurance Solutions in June June: see month. 2006 would have pushed the Swiss Re ranking to the top of the current list had it taken place in 2005. Ranked by Consolidated Gross Premium Written in 2005 (US$ Millions) 2006 Ranking Prior Rankings (1) (1) Group Name 2005 2004 2003 2002 1 Munich Re 1 1 1 1 2 Swiss Re Group 2 2 2 2 3 Berkshire Hathaway Group 3 4 3 3 4 Hannover Re 4 3 4 5 5 Lloyd's of London 5 5 5 6 6 GE Global Ins Hldgs (2) 6 6 6 4 7 XL Capital 7 9 9 11 8 London Reins Group 14 14 12 12 9 RGA Reins Co 12 15 15 17 10 Everest Re Group 8 8 13 15 11 Transatlantic Hldgs Inc Group 9 12 11 13 12 Partner Re Group 10 13 14 14 13 Korean Reins Co (3) 16 17 18 21 14 Scor Group 13 7 7 8 15 Odyssey Re Group (Fairfax) 15 16 16 24 16 Scottish Re (4) --- --- --- --- 17 Aegon (5) 28 25 26 18 18 Converium Group 11 11 10 10 19 White Mountains Re 18 26 29 34 20 Ace 19 23 28 31 21 RenaissanceRe 27 27 24 35 22 Platinum Underwriters Group 22 31 21 --- 23 Arch Reins Ltd 23 20 32 --- 24 Axa Re Group 29 10 8 9 25 Endurance Specialty Ins Ltd 21 21 33 --- 26 Mapfre 26 32 35 33 27 Assicurazioni Generali SpA 31 30 19 22 28 QBE 24 18 23 25 29 Caisse Centrale de Reassur 20 24 27 30 30 Axis Capital Holdings Limited 34 --- --- --- 31 Aspen Insurance 33 28 --- --- 32 Toa Reins Group (3) 30 22 20 23 33 Chubb/Harbor Point (8) 32 34 --- --- 34 Alea Group (7) 25 29 30 --- 35 Montpelier --- --- --- --- 2006 Ranking Consolidated Premiums (1) Group Name Gross Net 1 Munich Re $26,482 $22,606 2 Swiss Re Group 23,151 21,229 3 Berkshire Hathaway Group 12,486 11,646 4 Hannover Re 11,452 N/A 5 Lloyd's of London 9,053 6,568 6 GE Global Ins Hldgs (2) 8,565 6,697 7 XL Capital 5,686 5,013 8 London Reins Group 4,243 3,730 9 RGA Reins Co 4,222 3,867 10 Everest Re Group 4,109 3,972 11 Transatlantic Hldgs Inc Group 3,888 3,466 12 Partner Re Group 3,665 3,616 13 Korean Reins Co (3) 2,975 2,068 14 Scor Group 2,851 2,692 15 Odyssey Re Group (Fairfax) 2,627 2,302 16 Scottish Re (4) 2,553 N/A 17 Aegon (5) 2,112 1,156 18 Converium Group 1,994 1,816 19 White Mountains Re 1,981 1,304 20 Ace 1,847 1,794 21 RenaissanceRe 1,809 1,543 22 Platinum Underwriters Group 1,765 1,717 23 Arch Reins Ltd 1,751 1,657 24 Axa Re Group 1,729 1,719 25 Endurance Specialty Ins Ltd 1,669 1,619 26 Mapfre 1,584 1,082 27 Assicurazioni Generali SpA 1,575 N/A 28 QBE 1,546 1,191 29 Caisse Centrale de Reassur 1,537 1,476 30 Axis Capital Holdings Limited 1,519 1,491 31 Aspen Insurance 1,443 1,129 32 Toa Reins Group (3) 1,346 1,299 33 Chubb/Harbor Point (8) 1,018 904 34 Alea Group (7) 998 1,087 35 Montpelier 979 757 2006 Total Ranking Shareholder (1) Group Name Funds 1 Munich Re $28,652 2 Swiss Re Group 17,430 3 Berkshire Hathaway Group 68,484 4 Hannover Re 3,740 5 Lloyd's of London 18,915 6 GE Global Ins Hldgs (2) 8,251 7 XL Capital 8,472 8 London Reins Group 554 9 RGA Reins Co 2,528 10 Everest Re Group 4,140 11 Transatlantic Hldgs Inc Group 2,544 12 Partner Re Group 3,093 13 Korean Reins Co (3) 515 14 Scor Group 2,036 15 Odyssey Re Group (Fairfax) 1,623 16 Scottish Re (4) 1,506 17 Aegon (5) N/A 18 Converium Group 1,653 19 White Mountains Re 3,833 20 Ace 11,812 21 RenaissanceRe 2,254 22 Platinum Underwriters Group 1,540 23 Arch Reins Ltd 2,481 24 Axa Re Group 40,090 25 Endurance Specialty Ins Ltd 1,873 26 Mapfre 737 27 Assicurazioni Generali SpA 20,792 28 QBE 3,767 29 Caisse Centrale de Reassur 1,973 30 Axis Capital Holdings Limited 3,512 31 Aspen Insurance 2,040 32 Toa Reins Group (3) 1,584 33 Chubb/Harbor Point (8) 12,407 34 Alea Group (7) 490 35 Montpelier 1,222 2006 Ranking <---------Ratios------> (1) Group Name Loss Expense Combined 1 Munich Re 83.6 33.2 116.8 2 Swiss Re Group 82.1 30.9 113.0 3 Berkshire Hathaway Group 87.1 23.4 110.5 4 Hannover Re 85.6 26.8 112.5 5 Lloyd's of London 103.6 31.5 135.1 6 GE Global Ins Hldgs (2) 164.5 N/A N/A 7 XL Capital 99.7 27.3 127.0 8 London Reins Group N/A N/A N/A 9 RGA Reins Co N/A N/A N/A 10 Everest Re Group 94.0 26.2 120.2 11 Transatlantic Hldgs Inc Group 85.0 27.7 112.7 12 Partner Re Group 87.3 29.2 116.5 13 Korean Reins Co (3) N/A N/A N/A 14 Scor Group 74.7 21.9 96.7 15 Odyssey Re Group (Fairfax) 90.5 27.1 117.6 16 Scottish Re (4) N/A N/A N/A 17 Aegon (5) N/A N/A N/A 18 Converium Group 77.4 28.2 105.6 19 White Mountains Re 90.3 28.2 118.4 20 Ace 91.6 24.0 115.5 21 RenaissanceRe 116.6 23.1 139.7 22 Platinum Underwriters Group 87.8 27.6 115.4 23 Arch Reins Ltd 66.3 31.2 97.5 24 Axa Re Group 88.3 N/A N/A 25 Endurance Specialty Ins Ltd 95.8 27.7 123.5 26 Mapfre 67.6 32.0 99.6 27 Assicurazioni Generali SpA N/A N/A N/A 28 QBE 71.8 30.1 101.9 29 Caisse Centrale de Reassur 75.8 11.4 87.2 30 Axis Capital Holdings Limited 86.4 19.7 106.1 31 Aspen Insurance 100.8 27.2 128.0 32 Toa Reins Group (3) 86.7 28.4 115.1 33 Chubb/Harbor Point (8) 61.6 33.5 95.1 34 Alea Group (7) 84.6 41.5 126.1 35 Montpelier 178.0 22.7 200.7 (1) - Rankings based on prior year gross written premium. Deutsche Ruckversicherung reports gross written premium at year-end 2004 of 894 million [euro], which would have qualified it for the top 35 last year, and for this year, if the numbers held. Given the year's information lag and exchange rate issues, the company is not included in the current ranking. (2) - GE Insurance Solutions acquired by Swiss Re in June 2006. (3) - Year-end is March 31, 2006. (4) - Acquired ING life reinsurance. (5) - A.M. Best estimate based on statutory filings. (6) - Harbor Point acquired Chubb Re book of business in December 2005. (7) - Operations materially curtailed in 2005. (N/A) - Information not applicable or not available at time of publication. Source: A.M. Best Co. |
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