The Bermuda insurance market bounced back in spectacular fashion in 2009, with a massive swing to profit.

A group of 17 US-listed property and casualty re/insurance companies who are based on the Island or who have major operations here, achieved collective net income of $11.7 billion last year.

In 2008, the same group, detailed in the table shown, made a combined net loss of a little more than $1 billion.

The list does not include the Island's London-listed insurers, such as Catlin, which itself declared record net earnings of more than $600 million for last year.

Nor does it include the 900 or so companies in the captive insurance sector — entities that provide self-insurance to the corporations who own them, wholly or partially.

The skyrocketing earnings have come about because of a lack of costly catastrophes last year, helped by a quiet hurricane season, as well as a strong rebound in global financial markets that helped to swell the value of the insurers' huge investment portfolios.

The industry's 2009 experience could not have been more different from 2008, when global markets crashed and September hurricanes Gustav and Ike generated around $20 billion in insurance claims.

Last year's bumper profits should mean a boost for the local economy, as hundreds of insurance workers receive hefty bonuses.

Among the star performers in 2009, were two reinsurers who expanded through acquisitions — PartnerRe, which took over Paris Re, and Validus, which merged with IPC Holdings.

PartnerRe, led by chief executive officer Patrick Thiele, the Class of 1993 company that became the fourth biggest reinsurer in the world with the addition of Paris Re's operations, posted net income of more than $1.5 billion.

Validus, which was only formed just over four years ago after Hurricane Katrina, chalked up an $897.4 million profit, nearly 17 times more than its earnings in 2008.

Validus's January renewal business — up 56 percent — suggests that the IPC acquisition will produce further benefits for the company this year.

None of the group posted a net loss in 2009, and several could lay claim to the title of "Comeback Kid", none more so than XL Capital.

The global business insurer endured the worst year in its history in 2008, posting a $2.6 billion loss, as credit-exposed investments plunged, and the company extricated itself expensively from a ill-fated venture into the financial guaranty business.

It 2009, XL slimmed down its workforce, focused on core property and casualty operations and has got 80 percent of the way through a de-risking of its investment portfolio.

Its share price bounced back — it was the biggest climber of the S&P 500 Index — and it managed a $206.6 million profit.

White Mountains Group was the other Bermuda-based insurer to achieve a positive swing of more than $1 billion — from a loss of $555 million in 2008 to a $470 million profit last year.

The fortunes of Montpelier Re also saw a dramatic improvement, as a profit of $463.5 million helped to erase the memory of a $145.5 million loss in 2008.

Flagstone, Max Capital, RenaissanceRe and Everest also returned to profit after 2008 losses.

Ace Ltd., born and raised in the Bermuda market and now a Swiss company, achieved record earnings of $2.55 billion last year and continued to expand its international reach.

In addition to the profits there were some staggering increases in book values, as many achieved more than 25 percent growth over the year.

Last week financial regulator the Bermuda Monetary Authority reported that the total assets of the Bermuda insurance market were in the region of $473 billion by the end of 2008 — by now they are highly likely to exceed half a trillion dollars.

Rarely can the roller-coaster nature of the risk business have been better illustrated than by the past two years.

And with claims rolling in from the winter storms that have ravaged the US already this year and downward pressure on reinsurance prices, the Island's insurance community is bracing itself for a year that is unlikely to repeat 2009's near best-case scenario.