IPC was incorporated in Bermuda on May 20, 1993. American International and General Re were the chief contributors to its $300 million original capital.

Today, parent company IPC Holdings, through its operating company, IPCRe, specialises in property catastrophe reinsurance on a worldwide basis, and, to a limited extent, marine, aviation, property-per-risk excess and other short-tail reinsurance worldwide. Substantially all IPC's cover is written on an excess-of-loss basis, coming into force when retentions and lower layers have been exhausted.

IPC has its headquarters in Bermuda and an office in Dublin. A London representative office was consolidated into Bermuda in 2000. IPC is quoted on the Nasdaq and, as of September this year, maintains a secondary listing on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

IPC keeps it simple. Nearly 90 percent of its revenue comes from one line of business; it has grown consistently since its foundation, under essentially the same management team; and the company has rarely, if ever, made an appearance in the "dramas" columns of the news wires.

"We understand that what we are selling is a promise, made to customers on every transaction: the promise to pay when a covered loss arises," says IPC's president and chief executive officer, Jim Bryce.

Mr. Bryce has led the company since 1993, when he was asked by Tom Tizzio, then president of AIG, now vice chairman to Maurice (Hank) Greenberg, to act as the underwriting leader of a new company, to be called International Property Catastrophe Reinsurance. The company's purpose was to satisfy a market hurting for property catastrophe cover. AIG would provide the hardware and software, including office space in Bermuda, and Mr. Bryce would find the underwriting staff.

He quickly came up with a business plan, featuring a London representative office to service that city's broker market, which had itself been weakened by an outflow of capital after Andrew. Mr. Bryce was familiar with Bermuda, having played a part in AIG's joint ventures in Eastern Europe, which were run from Richmond Road in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Mr. Bryce is always keen to cite the philosophy by which he runs IPC. At its most basic, he says, catastrophe reinsurance is a promise to pay at a future date. "The execution of the promise is when you are called to pay a loss," he says. "We take in the money right now and in the period until a claim arises, underwriting provides coverage and we make a profit. One can also very easily sell a false promise: if you don't experience a loss, it is easy for a company to make a promise to pay on which it cannot deliver; that is, taking on too many promises to pay, with an inadequate capital base to make good on those promises. We have unfortunately seen too many of these cases in the last 10 years."

To be able to fulfill its promises, IPC has built its underwriting strategy on five basic principles: select brokers who believe in a three-way partnership for success; choose clients that are managing for long-term success; achieve geographical spread of risk; limit maximum liability per programme and maximum liability per risk zone; and manage aggregate liability appropriately in relation to the company's capital.

Last December, in response to demand, IPC doubled its capacity by increasing its capital by $546 million with a public common share offering in December and a private sale of shares at the public offering price to AIG. AIG also exercised an option to acquire additional shares, which it had held since IPC was formed. IPC believed that additional capital and the continued support of AIG would enable it to satisfy growing market demand.

The company was also able to seize the opportunities arising in a hardening market and provide greater negotiating strength in leading more programmes in 2002.

"We reloaded and increased the capital in December in response to clients visiting us in October and November," Mr. Bryce says. "They had recognised the fact that we kept our A+ ratings, the fact that we did not get into negative CreditWatch, the fact that we were there after September 11 as a substantial reinsurer - meant that they wanted to do more business with us. That really gave us the impetus to go out and raise the capital."

The new money is being put to use "pretty much on track," he says.

Among the largest of the new companies organised in Bermuda after September 11 was Allied World Assurance Company (AWAC), a multi-line insurance and reinsurance organisation formed by AIG, Chubb, and GS Capital Partners 2000, an investment fund managed by Goldman Sachs. Last December, IPCRe entered into a three-year agency agreement with AWAC to provide fee-based underwriting services. "We're both A+ rated, so we can offer double-barrelled capacity," Mr. Bryce explains.

IPCRe's clients include many of the leading insurance companies in the world. Approximately 44 percent of premiums written in 2001 related to US risks. The balance of covered risks is located principally in Europe, Japan and Australia/New Zealand. IPC retains 90 percent of its clients annually. Its business is largely broker-driven. Five brokers accounted for approximately 85 percent of total premiums written in 2001. Consolidation in the insurance sector has limited the overall number of IPC clients to about 350.

Among the senior management at IPC, Mr. Bryce has now spent 31 years in the insurance industry; chairman Joe Johnson 48 years; Peter Cozens, vice president and senior underwriter (international) 37 years; Dennis Higginbottom, vice president and company secretary, 33 years; Stephen Fallon, senior vice president and senior underwriter, 23 years; and John Weale, senior vice president and chief financial officer, 19 years.

Mr. Bryce feels that the company has been "very fortunate with quality capital providers, world class clients, loyalty and continuity of skilled and seasoned staff, and tremendous support from the brokers." The mixture has worked well, Mr. Bryce says, and the combination is rare.