A team of analysts in New York has recommended investors buy shares in three Bermuda-based insurance companies.

Blaylock & Partners' equity analysts Harry Fong and Joshua Shanker issued "buy" ratings to stock of XL Capital, Partner Re and ACE this week.

The pair also recommended RLI Corp., a property and casualty insurer based in Illinois.

The analysts set a target price for XL's stock 16 percent above yesterday's $76.75 closing price.

They said ACE's share price could increase by 24 percent from $33.15. The pairs' target price for Partner Re was 29 percent above the current price of $47.88.

The analysts said XL was "the business to beat" in the Bermuda insurance market and had adequate reserves.

Partner Re, they predicted, could post record earnings in the next few years while ACE was trading at a discount because of "extreme overselling".

Blaylock & Partners was ranked by Black Enterprise Magazine as the number-one minority-owned investment banking firm for 1999 and 2000.