Read the text below, entitled “2005 – First Nine Months Results”, in order to answer question:

2005 – First Nine Months Results
Source: www.iii.org
Dec 27^th, 2005 (Adapted)

The property/casualty insurance industry reported a statutory rate of return on average surplus of 9.5 percent through the first nine months of 2005. The results were released by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). The financial performance of the industry during the period featured a surprisingly low combined ratio of 100, a figure that provided stunning proof of the resilience of the property/casualty insurance industry in the face of record catastrophe losses approaching $50 billion.

Insurers also benefited from rising interest rates and modest stock market gains to generate $40.7 billion on their investment portfolio. Policyholder surplus also climbed by $20.4 or 5.2 percent, through the first nine months, again a surprise. Profi tability in the industry is still disappointingly low, however, coming in well below the expected 14 percent return for the benchmark Fortune 500 group of companies this year. Prior to Hurricane Katrina the industry was on a trajectory to record its highest level of profitability since 1987.