world's oldest and most widely recognised rating agency dedicated to the insurance industry.

The Group's excellent rating is attributed to the corporation's long- term operating performance, strong capitalisation, conservative risk management and established presence in the reinsurance market.

A.M. Best reviews over 2,600 property/casualty insurance companies and it says PXRE group is one of the top thirty professional reinsurers in the United States.

The publicly traded group has consistently maintained above average underwriting results in accordance with its strategy of emphasis on profit over growth.

According to Best's, the company's historical earnings have been strong over the past five years and is attributed to the group's demonstrated underwriting discipline in an intensively competitive environment.

Categorised by the same rating agency as IX - $250 million to $500 million -- in financial size, the group's diverse presence in the market includes catastrophe-related, retro, pro rata, facultative and risk excess reinsurance as well as marine and aerospace business.

The group explains the addition of an experienced staff to facilitate entry into new markets and management's continued commitment to prudent underwriting guidelines will migrate the concerns of the inherent difficulty in accurately predicting casualty losses in the future.

PXRE Reinsurance Co. and Transnational Insurance Co. are included in this rating action.