Bermuda?s publicly listed insurers saw their share prices move lower as markets closed on Friday.

A number likely lost ground as investors reacted to growing predictions that the 2006 hurricane season will see above average activity for the third year in a row.

Nine of the Island?s insurers that trade on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq lost ground on Friday, one remained unchanged and four advanced.

AccuWeather, a US-based weather forecaster, last week predicted three major hurricanes would hit the US in 2006 and said warmer Atlantic surface temperatures created a greater likelihood of storms travelling up the Eastern seaboard. Last year?s storms caused the most costly damage in Florida and in areas surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

AccuWeather?s storm predictions, which generally mirror the predictions from other forecasters for an above-active hurricane season when it officially begins on June 1, may have fuelled already heightened investor concerns. Many investors got burned on insurance stocks last year, with some losing more than half their market value after the large losses. Most have regained some of the losses in the months since.

At least four of Bermuda?s insurers have however floundered in the wake of 2006 losses. Alea, Rosemont, PXRe and Quanta are now either going up on the sales block or being put into run-off, a form of winding down an insurance company that allows claims to be met. At least three of the four can directly attribute their troubles to larger than expected hurricane losses.

Market losses sustained by Bermuda insurers this week were in line with losses sustained by the wider market. The KBW Insurance Index, which tracks the trading of 24 insurance companies active in the US and includes four Bermuda-based firms and designed to represent the price performance of the broader insurance market, lost 2.7 percent over the week.

Bermuda insurers Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., Platinum Underwriters, XL Capital, PXRe, RenaissanceRe and Montpelier Re were amongst those to see their shares close lower on Friday.

At least one of Bermuda?s insurers, Max Re, may have lost ground on other news.

The Front Street-based reinsurer saw its share price fall seven cents to close at $22.72 after it was notified by the Nasdaq that its failure to make a timely quarterly filing put it in violation of listing requirements. The company is now at risk of a delisting.

Max Re hasn?t filed its first quarter report pending the outcome of an already announced review of three finite risk contracts that may have been improperly accounted for. Max Re told investors it is considering a restatement of earnings up to $25 million over a several-year period, and intends to address Nasdaq?s concerns in a hearing.

Montpelier, one of the reinsurers worst hit by storm claims last year, also saw its shares fall to a new low this week.

The shares fell to $15 on Wednesday, an all-time low point, and a decline from a 52-week high of $36.35.

By Friday, Montpelier had regained some ground, closing down 19 cents to $15.12 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Investors may question holding insurance stocks if forecasters are right about 2006 hurricane prospects.

The insurance industry sustained losses estimated in the region of $80 billion last year from deadly hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, making it the most costly hurricane season on record. Bermuda insurers and reinsurers shouldered about $12 billion of the total bill.

While losses in 2005 were high, leaving the Bermuda market with an overall loss for the year, investors eagerly stepped up to help shore up balance sheets, pouring some $20 billion back into the sector. The sector likely attracted more capital because insurers can generally charge more for policies in the wake of a costly catastrophe like Katrina.

The Bermuda market ended 2005 with more capital than a year earlier. The influx of cash replenished the coffers of established companies as well as backing a wave of new reinsurers forming to take advantage of an expected rise in 2006 property-catastrophe, and offshore energy policies.