Converium Comments on Renewals; Webcast Today, Details

Converium wrote an estimated non-life premium volume of $ 1.27 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3 percent during the January renewal season. The Swiss reinsurer’s bulletin stressed the strict adherence to “its profitability standards, deliberately declining 3 percent of renewable premium as it did not meet the Company’s pricing requirements.”

It expects a combined ratio under 99 percent on the renewed book of business, “improving from 102.5 percent from the previous year.”

The January renewals account for 69 percent of Converium’s non-life treaty portfolio and, including later renewals and life & health business, the Company said it expects total gross premiums written for 2007 of between $ 2.1 and $2.2 billion.

Converium will hold a live webcast for the investment community at 2:30 p.m. Central European Time (CET). Access may be obtained through: http://converium.solutionpark.ch. Log in at least five minutes before the start of the conference.

CEO Inga Beale expressed satisfaction with the renewals, noting that “a number of clients and brokers have expanded or resumed their business relationships with Converium, encouraged by the completion of our turnaround in 2006.”

Converium’s Standard P/C Reinsurance segment wrote $578 million of open-market business (excluding joint ventures & Lloyd’s), an increase of 4 percent compared with last year’s renewal. It recorded a 33 percent premium increase in its strategic growth markets of Asia-Pacific and Middle East, further improving geographical diversification.

Converium also reported that its Specialty Lines segment “recorded an open-market renewal volume of $176 million, a flat development compared with last year’s renewal. Converium actively managed the cycle, growing in engineering and marine lines of business by 33 percent and 12 percent, respectively. Aviation business, on the other hand, declined markedly by 42 percent, as pricing in this line of business becomes increasingly unattractive. Property business grew by 10 percent, strongly driven by attractive US market conditions. Overall renewed premium from Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers and Lloyd’s increased from $504 million to $510 million.”

Converium will report on its annual results 2006 on March 20, 2007.