carrier, has posted another year of record assets, earnings and shareholders' equity, with net income rising steeply by 184 percent in 1993, to $187 million, up from $66 million the year before.

Compared to the top 20 US reinsurers, Centre Re ranks third in net income and fourth in capital and surplus.

Combined assets totalled $5.85 billion at the end of the year, up 32 percent from the $4.44 billion from a year ago. That is a staggering $1.41 billion in growth.

Shareholders' equity grew by 26 percent from $681 million to $856 million and a $165-million dividend was issued, a portion of which was paid in the form of stock in Zurich Reinsurance Centre, a new Centre Re company.

The company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Zurich Insurance Group in December and was credited with introducing the concept of finite risks. Centre re wrote $564,997,000 in premiums in 1993, compared to $478,621,000 in 1992.

Net investment income totalled $179,434 million, compared with $98,064,000 in 1992. Total revenue climbed from $647,909,000 in 1992 to $930,257,000.

Losses and expenses totalled $787,037,000 compared to $578,485,000 the year before. Included in that are losses and loss adjustment expenses of $314,964,000 compared to $231,884,000 the year before.

The company has won an "A'' rating from A.M. Best Companies 1993. By the end of the year, more than 90 percent of Centre Re's fixed maturity investments were in triple "A'' rated or government securities, and most of them are managed in-house.

The company formed Zurich Reinsurance Centre in March 1993, and two months later had a public offering of stock in the company. As a result of the public offering the companies share of the book value of Zurich Reinsurance Centre increased by $57 million, which was recognised as a gain in 1993.

A little over a year later, ZRC is the largest writer of broker-marketed property and casualty reinsurance in the US based on year-end statutory capital and surplus.

Centre Re also launched Centre Financial Services in March 1993 to move on the derivative markets for insurance. In September, Centre Re helped form Centre Cat Limited, a property catastrophe reinsurance company founded by a blue-chip group of investors.