Bermuda: Article archive
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Ratios improve in 2002 - Bermuda Angle
Roger CrombieInsurance and reinsurance companies routinely make complex forecasts about their financial performance. Internal budgets and plans, return on equity forecasts, regulatory and ratings agency filings, the "dog and pony" investor and broker road shows--all are prepared in microscopic detail.In property and catastrophe insurance and...
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The 'flood' fallacy - Bermuda Angle
Roger CrombieAs Christmas approached, strenuous efforts were being made to penalize Bermuda-based companies for being Bermuda-based. The attempt to have some of the majors delisted from the S&P 500 index as a penalty for being registered offshore extended not only to companies that have relocated their headquarters to Bermuda to mitigate their U.S....
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Success, at a price - Bermuda Angle
Roger CrombieRatings agency A. M. Best, surveying the Bermuda re/insurance market late this summer, cast doubt on the island's ability to continue its remarkable growth. "Bermuda may be unable to sustain the current boom in the reinsurance industry due to a lack of local intellectual resources and office space," Best reported. Referring to the...
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A year of change for Bermuda - Special Report: Bermuda
Roger CrombieAs accounting scandals continue to make headline news, all businesses are under closer scrutiny. Bermuda's insurance sector, though, shows its strength by doing what it does best: bringing innovative solutions to the market.In the year following the events of September 11, 2001, Bermuda's stock first soared to unheard-of heights, with...
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A blind, dull pain: despite an unstable stock market and low interest rates, Bermuda companies are trying to make the most of their investment options
Roger CrombieInterest rates are at their lowest level in 40 years. Given the impact on earnings, a hard market, which is always welcome in the property and casualty sector, could not have come at a better time. On the life side, however, U.S. dollar rates below two percent make product pricing difficult. For companies using insurance to offer...
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