insurers combined to make 1995 one of the best on record for the Bermuda insurance market, Registrar of Companies Kymn Astwood said on Friday.

In 1995, the latest year for which numbers are available, the market reached record highs in all statistical categories used to measure the size of the Island's international insurance industry.

Capital and surplus rose 24 percent to $36.9 billion from $29.8 billion in the prior year. Capital and surplus is regarded as the best statistical guide to the industry's financial strength.

The industry's total assets at year end were $95 billion, up 25 percent from the prior $76.1 billion.

Gross premiums written rose 24 percent to $23.4 billion from $18.8 billion while net premiums written, which represents the volume of insurance business actually retained by the market, grew to $18.4 billion from $14.9 billion, an increase of 23 percent.

The statistics are compiled from statutory financial returns filed annually by every insurer.

In 1995, 90 insurers were added to the register.

"That was one of our highest figures for annual incorporation activity and it undoubtedly had an impact on the market's financial statistics for 1995,'' Mr.

Astwood said.

The figures, for the first time, demonstrate the size of Bermuda's thriving captive insurance business, he added.

Captives, which pioneered the Bermuda insurance market over 30 years ago and are its oldest sector, includes 867 entities licensed as either Class 1 or Class 2 insurance companies, along with many more captives holding Class 3 licences.

The new statistics, compiled under provisions contained in the recently enacted Insurance Amendment Act, show Class 1 and Class 2 insurers reporting combined gross premiums of $8 billion, net premiums of $5.7 billion, and capital and surplus of $15.7 billion. These two classes assets totalled $38.2 billion.

"Thanks to the provisions of the Insurance Amendment Act, which introduced a multi-licence system of regulation and allowed us to break out different types of company for the first time, we now have a baseline measurement of the size of the captive insurance component of our industry,'' Mr. Astwood said.

"These statistics will provide an invaluable tool to gauge the annual performance and health of one of the most significant sectors of our international business economy.'' At the end of 1995, there were 1,401 insurers on the register divided into four classes as well as long term, composite and all others categories. Class 3 and 4 included 254 and 15 companies respectively.

Kymn Astwood