Bermuda-based Mutual Risk Management Ltd. has more than doubled its gross premiums written for the nine months to September 30, when compared with the same period last year.

It moved net income available to common shareholders up 38.7 percent to $13,084,000 for the third quarter and up 26.6 percent to $34,895,000 for the three quarter period.

The results for the third quarter of 1997 produced a 30 percent increase in operating income, which reached a record $12.8 million. Operating income for the first nine months rose 26 percent to $35.7 million.

Chairman and CEO Robert Mulderig and president John Kessock, Jr. said in a joint statement: "As expected, our program business segment reflected very strong growth, with fee income increasing 185 percent over the 1996 third quarter and 154 percent over the 1996 nine months.

"Our new financial services division also produced strong results in the quarter with a 32 percent increase in fee income over the third quarter of 1996. Return on equity continued to meet our expectations at 21 percent for the first nine months of 1997.'' Gross premiums written increased 112 percent to $462.6 million for the first nine months, primarily as a result of program business. Premiums earned increased 79 percent to $62.5 million in the first nine months.

Investment income for the three quarters amounted to $19.5 million, up 20 percent, mainly as a result of an increase in invested assets and higher rates of return. Losses and loss expenses incurred rose from $2.6 million to $17.9 million in the third quarter and from $18.7 million to $37.1 million in the nine months.

Assets grew during the nine months from $1.639 billion to $1.919 billion, as shareholders' equity grew from $208 million to $243 million.

The fastest growing segment, program business, involves the company replacing traditional insurers and acting as a conduit between producers of specialty books of business and reinsurers wishing to write that business.

Corporate risk management, the company's original business segment, involves providing services to businesses and associations seeking to insure a portion of their risk in a loss sensitive alternative market structure.

That segment accounted for 41 percent of total fee income for the nine month period, down from 63 percent in the corresponding 1996 period. It was the most affected by the very soft commercial insurance market.

The company's policy issuing subsidiaries added 30 new accounts in the third quarter, bringing the total number of new accounts added during the first nine months of the year to 94.

The specialty brokerage business provides access to alternative risk transfer insurers and reinsurers in Bermuda and Europe and produced $2 million of total fee income for the quarter and $5.1 million for the nine months.

The company's newest segment, financial services, is being built on the acquisition of Hemisphere Group Ltd., which provides administrative services to offshore mutual funds and other firms.