White Mountains posts solid results boosted by Ark
The sale of NSM for $876 million in the third quarter of 2022 boosted the results of White Mountains last year.
The Bermuda-based insurance group made a net profit of $788 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to a $273 million loss in the same period a year earlier.
During the fourth quarter of 2022, White Mountains invested $205 million into Outrigger Re, a newly-formed Bermuda special purpose insurer that will provide reinsurance protection on a portion of Ark's Bermuda global property catastrophe portfolio written in calendar year 2023.
Ark’s performance was worthy of note. It posted a combined ratio of 82% last year compared to 87% a year earlier. It reported gross written premiums of $1.4 billion, an increase on the $1.0 billion it wrote a year earlier. Its pre-tax profit for the year was $95 million in the compared with $53 million in 2021.
Manning Rountree, CEO, commented: "We had a solid fourth quarter capping an excellent year. ABVPS was up 2% in the quarter and 26% for the full year. In the quarter, we had good results from our operating companies and positive returns in our investment portfolio.
“BAM produced $38 million of gross written premiums and member surplus contributions in the quarter, capping a record year.
“Ark produced strong underwriting results in both the quarter and the full year, while growing full-year gross written premiums 37%. Kudu grew the fair value of its continuing portfolio and closed two value-adding exit transactions in the quarter, capping a good all-around year. Our investment portfolio was up 2.1% in the quarter and down 1.6% for the full year, an excellent relative result. At year end, we successfully launched Outrigger Re, deploying $205 million of capital. We finished the year with roughly $900 million of undeployed capital."
