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It’s not a good time to be a reinsurer. These companies, which essentially offer insurance for insurance, often bear the brunt of natural disasters. And 2011 has been the worst catastrophe year in history by some measures. Just look at the graphic above, courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute, for proof. Add in the fact that investment returns, traditionally a windfall for these heavily capitalized reinsurers, have been sluggish and volatile since the market meltdown in 2008 and things could be better.

Still, plenty of companies are doing A-OK. Just look at the list below.

From AM Best, these are the 50 largest reinsurers in terms of gross premiums written in 2010 (in millions).

1. Munich Reinsurance Company—$31,280
2. Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited—24,756
3. Hannover Rueckversicherung AG—15,147
4. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. —14,374
5. Lloyd’s—12,977
6. SCOR S.E. — 8,872
7. Reinsurance Group of America Inc. — 7,201
8. Allianz S.E. — 5,736
9. PartnerRe Ltd.— 4,881
10. Everest Re Group Ltd. —4,201
11. Transatlantic Holdings Inc. —4,133
12. Korean Reinsurance Company —4,114
13. China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation —3,796
14. London Reinsurance Group Inc. —3,266
15. MAPFRE RE, Compania de Reaseguros, S.A. —3,143
16. General Insurance Corporation of India —2,573
17. Assicurazioni Generali SpA —2,463
18. AEGON N.V. —2,391
19. QBE Insurance Group Limited —2,280
20. XL Group plc—2,255
21. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.—2,206
22. The Toa Reinsurance Company Limited—2,021
23. Axis Capital Holdings Limited—1,834
24. Caisse Centrale de Reassurance—1,814
25. Odyssey Re Holdings Corp.—1,625
26. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.—1,466
27. Catlin Group Limited—1,290
28. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.—1,165
29. Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited—1,162
30. ACE Limited—1,146
31. Validus Holdings Ltd.—1,101
32. Flagstone Reinsurance aHoldings Limited—1,098
33. White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd.—1,079
34. Amlin plc—1,004
35. Manulife Financial Corporation—972
36. American Agricultural Insurance Company—941
37. Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd.—941
38. Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd.—892
39. Arch Capital Group Ltd.—875
40. IRB – Brasil Resseguros S.A.—780
41. Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd.—780
42. ACR Capital Holdings Pte, Ltd.—752
43. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd.—720
44. NKSJ Holdings Inc.—690
45. Ariel Holdings Ltd.—644
46. Sun Life Financial Inc.—554
47. Maiden Holdings Ltd.—554
48. Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG—524
49. Central Reinsurance Corporation—457
50. W. R. Berkley Corporation—425

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