With catastrophe losses mounting in the second quarter and the magnitude of premium rate declines easing, rumors of an end to the soft market began to creep into insurance news headlines this month. However, net written premiums and underwriting profit results for 2007 compiled for this edition of NU's annual Top 100 ranking of the biggest property-casualty insurance companies and groups give little indication that any change will come soon.

These statistics, presented on pages 14-18 of this edition, reveal that despite essentially no real premium growth in 2007, there were continued underwriting profits for most insurers–amounting to more than 4 percent of earned premiums on average last year.

The idea that “we may be nearing the bottom of the soft market,” expressed by Richard Kerr, founder and chief executive of MarketScout, came in conjunction with data for a more recent time frame–the release of the firm's June Market Barometer.