Mr. Thiele: PartnerRe was started as a catastrophe only reinsurance specialist after Hurricane Andrew in 1993. We evolved in the late 1990s through the purchase of two other reinsurance companies ' SAFR in Paris and Winterthur Re in Zurich. We began the integration of those two operations in 1999. We survived the soft market of the late 1990s, as well as the devastating events of September 11, in 2001. And then in 2002, we really hit our stride as a diversified global multi-line reinsurance company, participating in virtually all of the life and non- life reinsurance marketplaces around the world. A core skill of the organization, is the ability to move to the more attractive markets ' on a return on equity basis, while de-emphasizing those lines and geographies where we don't expect to be able to make an adequate rate of return.
TWST: What are the more attractive markets?
Mr. Thiele: Certainly at the moment, given the storms of 2004 and 2005,
we think that the US catastrophe market is very well priced, relative to
the long-term trends in hurricanes and tropical storms. We also find
parts of the US casualty reinsurance marketplace to continue to be
attractive. Many of the other lines and other geographies on a global
basis are becoming more competitive, and we are finding fewer
opportunities to participate in those markets.
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