RenaissanceRe, which has been battered by hurricanes and regulatory inquiries, yesterday had its all-important A ratings affirmed for its major operating subsidiaries.

Ratings agency AM Best affirmed the A financial strength ratings and ?a? issuer credit ratings of Renaissance Reinsurance Ltd. and DaVinci Reinsurance Ltd. and removed the companies from review.

Best also affirmed the A- ratings for Glencoe Group Holdings Ltd. (Glencoe) and Overseas Partners Cat Ltd., and again said their outlook was stable.

A ratings are crucial in the reinsurance industry because many primary insurers will not cede business to reinsurers who have ratings of less than A-.

Best said that the rating actions reflected RenaissanceRe?s strong capitalisation and historical success. the Agency also said it had considered the company?s legal problems and high executive turnover.

Last month, RenRe?s former chief executive James Stanard and former senior executives Martin Merritt and Michael Cash were charged by the Securities and Exchange commission with securities fraud related to the alleged abuse of finite reinsurance contracts. The executives had resigned from the company in 2005.

Best said that although RenRe had taken over $1 billion in losses from the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes, it had a historical record of ?exceptional underwriting performance and superior risk management techniques?.

?As a market leader in global property catastrophe reinsurance, RenaissanceRe?s earnings remain exposed to high severity losses associated with catastrophic events on a worldwide basis, such as those experienced in 2004 and 2005,? Best added. ?Furthermore, RenaissanceRe?s specialty and individual risk businesses have experienced rapid growth in recent years with the individual risk unit taking significant losses from 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. Nonetheless, these factors are somewhat mitigated by RenaissanceRe?s disciplined and analytical underwriting approach, sophisticated catastrophe modelling capabilities and the active monitoring controls over the individual risk business.?

Best said it also reviewed RenRe?s sidecar reinsurer, Starbound Reinsurance Ltd. (Bermuda) to assess the future potential for ?over the top risk? (tail risk) that ultimately must be absorbed by RenaissanceRe. Best said the tail risk is the excess, if any, of this collateral level determined by AM Best over the collateral held in the sidecar?s trust.

Best noted that the recent rise in the prices of reinsurance property catastrophe rates benefited RenaissanceRe in the near term.

?The ratings also consider the turnover experienced in RenaissanceRe?s senior management in November 2005 following the receipt of ?Wells Notices? from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

RenaissanceRe disclosed, as part of the second quarter 2006 earnings announcement that it has submitted an offer of settlement to the SEC in connection with the agency?s probe of the company and has received the support of the SEC staff,? Best said.