SEGMENT INFORMATION

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

SEGMENT INFORMATION [Abstract]

SEGMENT INFORMATION [Text Block]

3.       SEGMENT INFORMATION

Our underwriting operations are organized around our global underwriting platforms, AXIS Insurance and AXIS Re. Therefore we have determined that we have two reportable segments, insurance and reinsurance.Except for goodwill and intangible assets, we do not allocate our assets by segment as we evaluate the underwriting results of each segment separately from the results of our investment portfolio.

Insurance

Our insurance segment provides insurance coverage on a worldwide basis. The product lines in this segment are property, marine, terrorism, aviation, credit and political risk, professional lines, liabilityand accident & health.

Reinsurance

Our reinsurance segment provides treaty and facultative property and casualty reinsurance to insurance companies on a worldwide basis. The product lines in this segment are catastrophe, property, professional lines, credit and bond, motor, liability, engineering and other.

The following tables summarize the underwriting results of our reportable segments, as well as the carrying values of allocated goodwill and intangible assets:
	At and year ended December 31, 2011		Insurance			Reinsurance			Total
	Gross premiums written	$	2,121,829		$	1,974,324		$	4,096,153
	Net premiums written		1,466,134			1,953,300			3,419,434
	Net premiums earned		1,429,687			1,885,274			3,314,961
	Other insurance related income		2,396			-			2,396
	Net losses and loss expenses		(919,319)			(1,755,733)			(2,675,052)
	Acquisition costs		(199,583)			(387,886)			(587,469)
	General and administrative expenses		(278,147)			(103,915)			(382,062)
	Underwriting income (loss)	$	35,034		$	(362,260)			(327,226)
	Corporate expenses								(77,089)
	Net investment income								362,430
	Net realized investment gains								121,439
	Foreign exchange gains								44,582
	Interest expense and financing costs								(62,598)
	Income before income taxes							$	61,538
	Net loss and loss expense ratio		64.3	%		93.1	%		80.7	%
	Acquisition cost ratio		14.0	%		20.6	%		17.7	%
	General and administrative expense ratio		19.4	%		5.5	%		13.9	%
	Combined ratio		97.7	%		119.2	%		112.3	%
	Goodwill and intangible assets	$	99,590		$	-		$	99,590

At and year ended December 31, 2010		Insurance			Reinsurance			Total
Gross premiums written	$	1,916,116		$	1,834,420		$	3,750,536
Net premiums written		1,332,220			1,815,320			3,147,540
Net premiums earned		1,206,493			1,740,917			2,947,410
Other insurance related income		2,073			-			2,073
Net losses and loss expenses		(569,869)			(1,107,263)			(1,677,132)
Acquisition costs		(152,223)			(336,489)			(488,712)
General and administrative expenses		(276,435)			(98,001)			(374,436)
Underwriting income	$	210,039		$	199,164			409,203
Corporate expenses								(75,449)
Net investment income								406,892
Net realized investment gains								195,098
Foreign exchange gains								15,535
Interest expense and financing costs								(55,876)
Income before income taxes							$	895,403
Net loss and loss expense ratio		47.2	%		63.6	%		56.9	%
Acquisition cost ratio		12.6	%		19.3	%		16.6	%
General and administrative expense ratio		23.0	%		5.7	%		15.2	%
Combined ratio		82.8	%		88.6	%		88.7	%
Goodwill and intangible assets	$	103,231		$	-		$	103,231

At and year ended December 31, 2009		Insurance			Reinsurance			Total
Gross premiums written	$	1,775,590		$	1,811,705		$	3,587,295
Net premiums written		1,025,061			1,791,368			2,816,429
Net premiums earned		1,157,966			1,633,798			2,791,764
Other insurance related income (loss)		(130,946)			1,265			(129,681)
Net losses and loss expenses		(612,694)			(811,178)			(1,423,872)
Acquisition costs		(113,187)			(307,308)			(420,495)
General and administrative expenses		(216,954)			(76,127)			(293,081)
Underwriting income	$	84,185		$	440,450			524,635
Corporate expenses								(77,076)
Net investment income								464,478
Net realized investment losses								(311,584)
Foreign exchange losses								(28,561)
Interest expense and financing costs								(32,031)
Income before income taxes							$	539,861
Net loss and loss expense ratio		52.9	%		49.6	%		51.0	%
Acquisition cost ratio		9.8	%		18.8	%		15.1	%
General and administrative expense ratio		18.7	%		4.7	%		13.2	%
Combined ratio		81.4	%		73.1	%		79.3	%
Goodwill and intangible assets	$	91,505		$	-		$	91,505

The following table presents our gross premiums written by the geographical location of our subsidiaries:
	Year ended December 31,		2011		2010		2009
	Bermuda	$	822,237	$	822,530	$	802,577
	Europe		1,493,692		1,203,091		1,057,427
	United States		1,780,224		1,724,915		1,727,291
	Total gross premium written	$	4,096,153	$	3,750,536	$	3,587,295

The following table presents our net premiums earned by segment and line of business:
	Year ended December 31,	2011		2010		2009
	Insurance
	Property	$	385,291	$	337,525	$	268,469
	Marine		152,123		145,356		139,196
	Terrorism		35,213		32,486		34,001
	Aviation		70,681		66,636		64,245
	Credit and political risk		97,680		89,773		188,311
	Professional lines		536,238		444,663		381,364
	Liability		89,555		87,481		82,380
	Accident & health		62,906		2,573		-
	Total Insurance		1,429,687		1,206,493		1,157,966
	Reinsurance
	Catastrophe		456,858		454,954		451,085
	Property		356,022		323,201		311,272
	Professional lines		281,025		285,224		266,792
	Credit and bond		263,912		217,809		179,362
	Motor		202,830		127,404		99,497
	Liability		230,872		232,014		227,511
	Engineering		65,727		71,229		66,428
	Other		28,028		29,082		31,851
	Total Reinsurance		1,885,274		1,740,917		1,633,798
	Total	$	3,314,961	$	2,947,410	$	2,791,764