Some reinsurers have regained half or more of the capital they lost last year in the financial crisis and through windstorms, thanks to gains in underwriting and calmer investment markets.

That’s the view of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Co, which has released a report showing an aggregate increase of $US4.6 billion ($5.49 billion) for the first half of this year compared with a loss of $US3.5 billion ($4.18 billion) in the corresponding period last year.

The report says unrealised investment losses dropped by 87% to $US1.5 billion ($1.79 billion) while realised investment losses were down by 43% to $US1.2 billion ($1.43 billion).

Growth in gross written premium was up 6% to $US71 billion ($84.79 billion) with European multiline carriers reporting significant premium increases. Some Bermuda-based reinsurers, however, reported declines from 2-13%, citing insufficient pricing as the primary cause.

Underwriting earnings rose 9.6%, reaching $US2.2 billion ($2.63 billion) while year over year combined ratios eased from 85.6% to 84.9%.

European companies reported a combined ratio of 94.7%, but a relatively benign loss year for catastrophe-heavy portfolios helped Bermuda companies achieve 77.1%.