Segments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Dec. 31, 2010

Dec. 31, 2009

Segments [Abstract]

Segments

(12)Segments

We report HCC's results in six operating segments, each of which reports to an HCC executive who is responsible for the segment results. Each of our five insurance underwriting segments bears risk for insurance coverage written within its portfolio of insurance products. Each segment generates income from premium written by our underwriting agencies, through third party agents and brokers, or on a direct basis. Fee and commission income earned by our agencies from third party insurance companies is included in segment revenue. Each segment incurs insurance losses, acquisition costs and other administrative expenses related to our insurance companies and underwriting agencies. We monitor and assess each segment's pretax results based on underwriting profit, gross and net written premium, and its combined ratio, consisting of the net loss ratio and expense ratio.

Included in the portfolio of products for each insurance underwritingsegment are the following key products:

• U.S. Property & Casualty –aviation, small account errors and omissions (E&O) liability, public risk, contingency, disability, title and mortgage reinsurance, residual value,employment practices liability (EPLI), technical property, primary and excess casualty, and brown water marine written in the United States.
• Professional Liability –directors' and officers' (D&O) liability, large account E&O liability,fiduciary liability, fidelity and bankers' blanket bonds, and EPLI for some D&O policyholders written in the United States and internationally.
• Accident & Health – medical stop-loss, short-term domestic and international medical, HMO reinsurance and medical excess coverageswritten in the United States.
• U.S. Surety & Credit – contract surety bonds, commercial surety bondsand bail bondswritten in the United States and credit insurancemanaged in the United States.
• International – energy, property treaty, liability, surety, credit,property (direct and facultative), ocean marine, accident and health and other smaller product lines written outside the United States.

The Investing segment includes our consolidated investment portfolio, as well as all investment income, investment related expenses, realized investment gains and losses, and other-than-temporary impairment credit losses on investments. All investment activity is reported as revenue, consistent with our consolidated presentation.

In addition to our segments, we include a Corporate & Other categoryto reconcile segment results to consolidated totals. The Corporate & Other category includes corporate operating expenses not allocable to the segments, interest expense on long-term debt, and underwriting results of our Exited Lines. Our Exited Lines include these six product lines that we no longer write and do not expect to write in the future: 1) accident and health business managed by our underwriting agency, LDG Reinsurance, 2) workers' compensation, 3) provider excess, 4) Spanish medical malpractice, 5) U.K. motor and 6) film completion bonds.

All stock-based compensation is included in Corporate & Other because it is not included in management's evaluation of the five insurance underwriting segments. All contractual and discretionary bonuses are expensed in the respective employee's segment in the year the bonuses are earned. Any such bonuses that will be paid by restricted stock awards, which will be granted by the Compensation Committee in the following year, are reversed within Corporate & Other. The appropriate stock-based compensation expense will be recorded in Corporate & Other as the awards vest in future years. The majority of our depreciation and amortization expense is included in Corporate & Other.

The following tables presentinformation by business segment.

			U.S. Property & Casualty		Professional Liability		Accident & Health		U.S. Surety & Credit		International		Investing		Corporate & Other		Consolidated
Year ended December 31, 2011
Net earned premium			$	333,410	$	410,816	$	803,462	$	210,535	$	368,748	$	0	$	199	$	2,127,170
Other revenue				23,951		912		4,687		1,247		5,309		211,245		(516)		246,835
	Segment revenue			357,361		411,728		808,149		211,782		374,057		211,245		(317)		2,374,005
Loss and LAE				201,017		328,503		586,210		52,206		233,879		0		(2,568)		1,399,247
Other expense				110,184		59,036		121,261		113,932		136,750		0		78,589		619,752
	Segment expense			311,201		387,539		707,471		166,138		370,629		-		76,021		2,018,999
		Segment pretax earnings (loss)	$	46,160	$	24,189	$	100,678	$	45,644	$	3,428	$	211,245	$	(76,338)	$	355,006

The following table presents total assets by segment at December 31, 2011 and 2010.

	2011		2010
U.S. Property & Casualty	$	949,100	$	924,219
Professional Liability		1,031,024		997,726
Accident & Health		236,846		238,310
U.S. Surety & Credit		161,968		172,562
International		728,338		609,687
Investing		6,119,288		5,748,822
Corporate & Other		398,689		372,756
Total	$	9,625,253	$	9,064,082

The tables below present the split of our revenue, pretax earnings and total assets by geographic location.For these disclosures, wedetermine geographic location by the country of domicile of our subsidiaries that write the business and not by the location of insureds or reinsureds from whom the business was generated.

	2011		2010		2009
Domestic	$	1,779,789	$	1,785,865	$	1,833,676
Foreign		594,216		516,389		484,840
Total revenue	$	2,374,005	$	2,302,254	$	2,318,516
Domestic	$	237,056	$	347,841	$	373,292
Foreign		117,950		141,986		145,259
Total pretax earnings	$	355,006	$	489,827	$	518,551

	December 31,
	2011		2010
Domestic	$	7,253,279	$	6,852,148
Foreign		2,371,974		2,211,934
Total assets	$	9,625,253	$	9,064,082

Year ended December 31, 2010
Net earned premium			$	339,513	$	425,226	$	760,034	$	199,908	$	316,186	$	0	$	1,057	$	2,041,924
Other revenue				31,201		981		3,875		580		7,344		215,498		851		260,330
	Segment revenue			370,714		426,207		763,909		200,488		323,530		215,498		1,908		2,302,254
Loss and LAE				191,108		265,465		556,848		52,940		143,412		0		3,256		1,213,029
Other expense				103,229		74,524		117,308		109,685		120,956		0		73,696		599,398
	Segment expense			294,337		339,989		674,156		162,625		264,368		-		76,952		1,812,427
		Segment pretax earnings (loss)	$	76,377	$	86,218	$	89,753	$	37,863	$	59,162	$	215,498	$	(75,044)	$	489,827