...getting further into the alphabet with these blowups...now its PXre

http://investor.pxre.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=192756

Again, this is beneficial for the industry. There are several startups in Bermuda (as there are every year) who will take up the charge to provide CAT reinsurance. This does nothing to the total capacity. Inefficient (and/or/rather "unlucky") reinsurers will continue to seek "strategic alternatives (read: beg an investment bank to broker a purchase or be subsumed by a larger RE player who happens to be interested). The Price/Earnings ratio for the industry as a whole hovers around SEVEN (7). Name another major industry with the capitalization and positive business prospects that reinsurance is, and is going to, enjoy in the coming years.

Again, as I have said before, the overconfidence in CAT models is partially to blame. I am surprised Benoit Mandelbroit has not come up with a theory that explains why the frequentist or Baysian statistical models are not the proper analog for major CAT risk.

Bermuda is still the most "liquid" market for insurance. A firm can be liquidated and find a home in no-time in that friendly jurisdiction. However, The Recapitulator notes that Malta is becoming a hot-spot for European firms.