This assessment was based on various financial measures, said Mr. Stanard, who pointed to RenaissanceRe's first-ever single-digit return on equity for a year as one point of reference.

RenaissanceRe reported $164.24 million, or $1.90 per share, in net income for 2004, a steep decline from $624.79 million, or $8.78 per share, reported in 2003.

The fourth-quarter earnings picture improved with net income increasing from $165.56 million, or $2.32 per share, to $200.13 million, or $2.72 per share.

RenaissanceRe's 2004 financial results ran into headwind from the third-quarter Florida hurricane activity.

"We've now recorded a net impact of $570 million from third-quarter hurricanes. That reflects an increase of $50 million for the fourth quarter relative to our previous estimates," Mr. Stanard said.

But he added that in the future the company may see an offsetting benefit of additional recoveries on certain retrocession coverage for Florida exposures which is triggered by industry losses.

Turning to premium results, overall net premiums written for 2004 came in at $1.35 billion, an increase from $1.15 billion a year ago. The CAT business showed some growth in terms of reported premium volume for 2004, coming in with a total of $753 million, an increase of just under 5 percent from 2003.

The specialty business did well, demonstrating growth of 30 percent. "That business was an important source of earnings for us in 2004," Mr. Stanard said.

The individual risk unit came in slightly lighter than the previous guidance of 10 percent growth, reporting a 7 percent increase.

"Our company is now well established as a leader not only in catastrophe reinsurance but also in various lines of specialty reinsurance and individual risk," Mr. Stanard said.

RenaissanceRe's net investment income last year rose substantially to $162.72 million, up from $129.54 million in 2003.