next week for the annual reinsurance meeting, armed with their new A.M. Best "A(minus)''(Excellent) rating and other changes they expect will be appealing.

President and CEO of Stockton Re, Dan Malloy, will this year lead his firm's contingent for the first time. And already, a busy schedule has been posted for meetings with clients and potential clients.

He said, "I can understand why some companies might believe that attendance is not as worthwhile as it was six years ago because of the softness in the general markets.

"If you were a cat reinsurer and people had to line up at your table to beg for capacity, it was probably a worthwhile meeting. Of course, times have changed and there is no shortage of capacity.

"We get to spend three days with our colleagues from the London rep office.

We get to update each other.

"The agenda is set by our London rep office because the people we really try to see there are those who we wouldn't normally see in Bermuda or the US.

"Our company is also different from what it was some years ago. I've been on board for just four months, for one thing. We have a lot of new talent.

"But we also have this new Best rating and now have $600 million in capital.

It would be worth sitting down and talking to customers and potential new customers about the changes in the company that they are likely to see as increasingly positive.'' Continued on 11 Stockton Re receives boost before reinsurance meeting The new rating, said Robert G. Easton, chairman of parent Stockton Holdings, came about after the reinsurer worked with the rating agency for several months, while Best performed their due diligence.

He said, "It is rewarding to see that they agree with our investors on the solidity and strength of our reinsurance operations.'' Mr. Malloy said, "This is an important milestone for us. We are very pleased to receive a strong initial rating at this stage of the company's development.

"While Best could have waited to give us a rating, the fact that we have received an "A(minus) (Excellent) after less than four years in the business acts as a positive signal of Stockton's strength to existing and potential customers.'' Stockton Re is an insurer and reinsurer of specialty risks, including both traditional and finite risk products.

Mr. Malloy points out: "The type of business we focus on, finite risk or alternative business, isn't really as sensitive to the market cycles as the general market.

"We are helping clients make their businesses more efficient. So even in a market where the traditional business is priced very inexpensively, they still have other issues facing them.

"People are calling us now about things like the Year 2000 issues. You see how people's stock prices are very volatile right now, so anything they have to report out of the ordinary, they will be penalised for.

"These are exactly the types of things that we can sit down and help them with.

"At Monte Carlo are CEOs and CFOs of major or potential clients and senior brokers from Lloyd's and US operations -- people with a fairly international perspective.

"It will be great to have discussions with these people, who are more focused on solutions than what the rate is going to be.'' Mr. Malloy is being joined in Monte Carlo by John Levenson from the Bermuda office and two from the London rep office.

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