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AXIS has become a significant player in several segments of the global reinsurance market. We conduct business with many of the largest insurers in the world as well as with an ever-increasing number of regional and local companies, mainly in Europe and the United States. At the beginning of 2003, AXIS established an underwriting team in its Dublin subsidiary, AXIS Re Limited, to improve service to its European clients. In order to access a significant portion of the Continental European business, in particular from small and midsize companies, we felt we needed a presence on the Continent. While some of the capacity-driven placements can be written from other locations, a large part of the per risk business has historically been placed locally and we expect that this will not change. Therefore, we established AXIS Re Europe in Zurich and we began our underwriting business in October of 2003. Our underwriting team is physically close to the reinsurance brokers and the ceding companies. By utilizing our team's professional networks and indepth understanding of the ceding companies, AXIS Re Europe is able to offer customers on-the-spot knowledge and build long-term partnerships. AXIS Re Europe underwrites all classes of short and medium-tail treaty reinsurance with a strong focus on Property. We also entertain General Liability, Specialty Liability, Motor Liability and Credit & Bond lines of business, and we expect to broaden the range of our products over the years to come. Since its establishment, AXIS has received broad support from the worldwide broking community. We believe this is a result of our emphasis on responsiveness, our strong capital position, and our ability to provide timely price indications. AXIS Re Europe follows these same principles. We are developing our European reinsurance business at a time when the reinsurance industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. After having suffered heavy losses from undisciplined underwriting, under-reserving through the soft market, the collapse of the stock market and, as a consequence, capital constraints and ratings pressure, many customers are left without a clear understanding of what to expect from their traditional reinsurers. They are looking for greater choice and want to partner with reinsurers that have experienced and empowered teams as well as unencumbered security. This is exactly what AXIS Re Europe is offering. AXIS is an exposure-driven underwriting operation. We seek clients who value our technical approach to pricing and our focus on the quality of data required. The ultimate goal of sustainable and profitable relationships is built on the fountain of quality data, transparency in pricing and frank, open dialogue with clients. We believe this approach will generate significant opportunities for AXIS Re Europe. |
