Bermuda can boast having 16 of the world's 35 top reinsurers, according to a survey published by rating agency AM Best.

In a table of companies ranked according to gross premiums written in 2007, Everest Re Group was the highest-ranked Bermuda company in tenth place.

Five Island companies were in the top 20, while there were three new local entrants into the top 35 — Validus, Max and Flagstone. Life reinsurer Scottish Re was the one Bermuda company to drop out of the top 35, having experienced financial difficulties over the past 12 months.

The rankings, published in the August 2008 edition of Best's Review, show that all 16 Bermuda companies listed achieved operating profitability in their reinsurance business last year, with combined ratios — the percentage of premium dollars spent on claims and expenses — lower than 100 percent.

Ten of the 16 Bermuda companies rose in the 2007 rankings, compared to 2006, while four dropped and two kept an unchanged placing.

Overall it was a good year for the reinsurance industry, with low catastrophe claims allowing companies to record bumper profits and bolster their capital bases.

Swiss Re Group topped the list with $30.7 billion in gross premiums written, closely followed by Munich Re with $29.8 billion. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Group ranked third, ahead of Hannover Re and Lloyd's of London.

The top five reinsurance giants wrote about $101 billion in premiums, more than the other 30 companies listed combined.

Everest Re wrote $4.1 billion in gross premiums last year, according to Best's analysts, and achieved a combined ratio of 91.6 percent, but dropped three places from its 2006 ranking of seventh.

PartnerRe Group wrote $3.8 billion in premiums to place 12th, while XL Capital was in 13th with $3.4 billion. Both companies dropped two places from 2006.

RenaissanceRe's $1.8 billion in premiums earned the property catastrophe specialists 17th place, while Ace's $1.6 billion placed it 20th. Ace wrote more premium by far than any of its Bermuda insurance market competitors last year, but around 85 percent of it was in the primary insurance market and was therefore not included in Best's survey, which specifically focused on reinsurance.

Axis Capital continued its strong rise up the Best rankings by climbing five places up to number 21, with $1.55 billion in gross premiums written and a healthy combined ratio of 76.3 percent. Axis, whose annual net income topped $1 billion for the first time in its six-year history in 2007, has climbed 13 places in three years since it entered the top 35 in 2005.

Validus was the highest-placed newcomer to the top 35, having written $989 million in gross premium with a combined ratio of 62 percent combined ratio, while its fellow Class of 2005 start-up Flagstone squeezed in at number 35, with $577 million in gross premiums written.

Amlin, the London-based company which has a Bermuda unit, boasted the best combined ratio of 50.7 percent, followed by RenaissanceRe with 59.3 percent.

Other Bermuda reinsurers on the list were Arch Re (22nd), White Mountains Re (24th, Platinum (25th), Endurance (26th), Harbor Point (32nd) and Montpelier (33rd).

Best's Review also compiled its top five list of global reisnurance brokers, by brokerage revenue.

Aon Re Global ($958 million) topped the list, followed by Guy Carpenter ($902 million), the reinsurance brokerage arm of Marsh & McLennan Companies.

Benfield Group ($656.7 million), which is in the process of being acquired by Aon, placed third, with Willis Re ($606 million) fourth and Towers Perrin ($156.1 million) fifth.