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It’s not a good time to be a reinsurer. These companies, which essentially offer insurance for insurance, often bear the brunt of natural disasters. And 2011 has been the worst catastrophe year in history by some measures. Just look at the graphic above, , for proof. Add in the fact that investment returns, traditionally a windfall for these heavily capitalized reinsurers, have been sluggish and volatile since the market meltdown in 2008 and things could be better.
Still, plenty of companies are doing A-OK. Just look at the list below.
From AM Best, these are in terms of gross premiums written in 2010 (in millions).
1. Munich Reinsurance Company—$31,280 2. Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited—24,756 3. Hannover Rueckversicherung AG—15,147 4. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. —14,374 5. Lloyd’s—12,977 6. SCOR S.E. — 8,872 7. Reinsurance Group of America Inc. — 7,201 8. Allianz S.E. — 5,736 9. PartnerRe Ltd.— 4,881 10. Everest Re Group Ltd. —4,201 11. Transatlantic Holdings Inc. —4,133 12. Korean Reinsurance Company —4,114 13. China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation —3,796 14. London Reinsurance Group Inc. —3,266 15. MAPFRE RE, Compania de Reaseguros, S.A. —3,143 16. General Insurance Corporation of India —2,573 17. Assicurazioni Generali SpA —2,463 18. AEGON N.V. —2,391 19. QBE Insurance Group Limited —2,280 20. XL Group plc—2,255 21. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.—2,206 22. The Toa Reinsurance Company Limited—2,021 23. Axis Capital Holdings Limited—1,834 24. Caisse Centrale de Reassurance—1,814 25. Odyssey Re Holdings Corp.—1,625 26. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.—1,466 27. Catlin Group Limited—1,290 28. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.—1,165 29. Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited—1,162 30. ACE Limited—1,146 31. Validus Holdings Ltd.—1,101 32. Flagstone Reinsurance aHoldings Limited—1,098 33. White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd.—1,079 34. Amlin plc—1,004 35. Manulife Financial Corporation—972 36. American Agricultural Insurance Company—941 37. Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd.—941 38. Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd.—892 39. Arch Capital Group Ltd.—875 40. IRB – Brasil Resseguros S.A.—780 41. Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd.—780 42. ACR Capital Holdings Pte, Ltd.—752 43. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd.—720 44. NKSJ Holdings Inc.—690 45. Ariel Holdings Ltd.—644 46. Sun Life Financial Inc.—554 47. Maiden Holdings Ltd.—554 48. Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG—524 49. Central Reinsurance Corporation—457 50. W. R. Berkley Corporation—425
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