Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William R. Berkley said during the call that growth in the new units since they began has been "slower than expected" and more pronounced because "historic business is down so much."

Asked whether the insurer and reinsurer was undercutting existing players in the international markets, Mr. Berkley flatly said no.

The executive has been critical of other insurers doing exactly that, contributing to the soft market cycle. The growth in new business is from about 20 subsidiaries started within the last several years--"Not much business when you look at it from a per-operating unit basis," he said.

The trend of international growth may change as domestic business picks up due to a turnaround in the soft cycle, Mr. Berkley said.

April and May pricing was flat and June was slightly down--an indication of "aggressive competition to achieve volume gain," he said. Pricing could improve by the end of the year as more competitors realize that investments cannot be counted on to generate profit.

"Given the current investment environment, adequate industry returns can only be achieved by improved underwriting results," Mr. Berkley said.

"I think there are a lot of people who are thinking about that now," he added during the call. Companies who continue to aggressively price will not change the swing. "Thankfully there are a lot of reinsurers who are saying, 'Hey, this is silly,' who aren't supporting this," Mr. Berkley said.

The company continues to be "more cautious than warranted" in reserving in order to feel "comfortable if inflation returns," the chief executive said during the call.