The major players in the global reinsurance industry are mixing business and pleasure this week at the annual Les Rendez-Vous de Septembre congress in Monte Carlo.

With Monaco's glamorous port city as a back drop, top executives from Bermuda-based reinsurers will mingle with their contemporaries from some 80 countries through Thursday.

At this 51st Rendez-Vous, hot topics are expected to include recent industry acquisitions and global economic challenges but reinsurers will also be keeping a wary eye on the three storms currently swirling the Atlantic — Tropical Storm Hanna, Hurricane Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine.

The early September industry get-together coincides with the apex of the Atlantic storm season and, as a result, hurricanes have proved to be distractions at most past events.

As RenaissanceRe president and CEO Neil Currie spoke to The Royal Gazette on the eve of the opening of Rendez-Vous, for example, Hanna was bearing down on Wilmington, North Carolina — where Mr. Currie and his family have a home.

Mr. Currie said Ike — which some models see affecting Florida by Wednesday — will also be on the minds of the reinsurance luminaries as they gather at these largely informal meetings.

But watching hurricanes is "very apropos because that's the business", Mr. Currie said. "This is what we are here for."

And he noted that Bermuda reinsurers and RenaissanceRe have gained a reputation for paying large claims very quickly.

While he expected there would be some discussion of economic woes in the US, Mr. Currie said most reinsurers remain in healthy financial position. "Banking has been hard hit but reinsurers are still in strong condition," he said. And any change in industry conditions provides new opportunities, he added. "We may see new insurance ventures starting in credited related business," he said.

IPC Re president and CEO Jim Bryce said he expected recent deals like Aon's acquisition of Benfield would be hotly discussed this year.

Thus far the storms of 2008 have proven to be somewhat "non-events" in reinsurance terms, he said — as opposed to industry-shaking storms like Hurricane Katrina, which caused a record $41 billion in insured losses in 2005.

In the absence of a major storm event, rates for property catastrophe reinsurance are likely to continue their downward trend or remain at status quo.

Deals like Aon's Benfield purchase — which will see Aon pay $1.6 billion for the troubled London-based reinsurer — should provide tender morsels of gossip for the reinsurers to digest at the cocktail parties and casinos in Monte Carlo, however.

"What do these consolidations mean in terms of opportunity?" asked Mr. Bryce. "What does it mean in terms of job losses?"

As in past years, Mr. Bryce expected the movement of executives around the industry would also be discussed as old friends and colleagues catch up at the congress but the heavy questions of rates will be left for later meetings in Baden-Baden, Germany.

"Baden-Baden is more of a barometer in a business sense on where rates will go on renewal of terms and conditions," Mr. Bryce said. "Anything can happen between now and (renewal date of January 1)."

Mr. Currie agreed. "Typically in Monte Carlo we are not going to negotiate on specifics but simply talk in broader terms and get updates," he said. The more official Baden-Baden symposium take place the last week of October.

While Rendez-Vous opened on Saturday, the bulk of the events take place today through Wednesday and Wednesday afternoon will see the annual Bermuda party, which Mr. Bryce noted has been held for over 25 years.