A wide regulatory probe of the insurance sector, and a string of costly catastrophes, has taken its toll on how the industry views its own leading lights, according to the results of a peer review released by UK reinsurance magazine Reactions on Monday.

Reactions, which got a record response this year to its annual awards survey, handed out trophies to its 2005 Awards winners at a special ceremony in London on Monday.

The top insurance spot, as in years past, went to American International Group Inc., after being voted the insurance company of the year despite "numerous investigations, results restatements, ratings downgrades, accusations of wrongdoing, and the departure of its iconic chief executive Hank Greenberg".

Swiss Re was voted the reinsurance company of the year, while AIG scooped up the top reinsurance spot for all regions except Europe where Germany's Allianz was voted the winner.

The results came out following an annual readers' survey conducted by Reactions in a bid to recognise the best insurance and reinsurance companies world-wide, as well as to single out the industry's top executives.

While AIG got good marks, regulatory issues may have led to it snagging the award by a hair, in contrast the last three years when it won by a wide margin.

In 2004, AIG had a 33.7 percent lead on runner-up Axa. But this year's second place holder, Allianz, lost out to AIG by a 6.4 percent margin.

And Bermuda-based property-catastrophe reinsurer RenaissanceRe placed third, behind Munich Re and Swiss Re, in the property-catastrophe reinsurer of the year category, after coming in first for the last two years.

Editor Wyn Jenkins said RenRe's slide was an example of the turmoil caused by the regulatory investigations.

RenRe lost position likely because of being "hard hit by both Florida hurricane losses" after a costly wave of four deadly storms in 2004, as well as a result of the wide industry probe of finite risk reinsurance.

In February, RenRe said it would restate financial results for 2001 through 2003 to correct accounting errors discovered in connection with the misaccounting of a finite risk policy with Inter-Ocean Reinsurance Ltd., a Bermuda reinsurer that RenRe partly owned.

There was also a shake-up in the broker category with Willis picking up its first award since the Reactions awards were established in 2002.

It was named both insurance broker of the year and most innovative insurance broker of the year. Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. has traditionally dominated this category.

Marsh may have fallen from grace after a probe led by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, centred on allegations of bid rigging, price fixing and controversial incentive payments at the company.

Benfield won reinsurance broker of year, replicating its success in 2003 and beating Guy Carpenter, which won the award in 2004 and 2002.

Benfield also scooped the award for most innovative reinsurance broker. Standard and Poor's won rating agency of the year for the third year running.

LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae was law firm of the year for the fourth year running. Tillinghast won the consultancy of the year award, for the second year running.

Risk Management Solutions, with the modelling firm being praised for its forward-thinking business approach, including building a model that covers earthquake risk in China, and for being the first modelling firm to open a Bermuda office, regained the risk modelling agency of the year award from AIR Worldwide.

Ramani Ayer, chief executive of The Hartford was named insurance chief executive of the year; and Wilhelm Zeller, Hannover Re's chief was named reinsurance chief executive of the year.

Bermuda reinsurance executive Patrick Thiele, chief executive of PartnerRe, was highly commended in the survey, according to Reactions report.