Reinsurance ventures rake in profits in 2002: in its first year of business, the class of 2002...

It's been a good first year for the new reinsurance ventures that were formed after the Sept. 11,2001 terrorist attacks.

In its first year of business, the Class of 2002 turned a tidy underwriting profit, with combined ratios well under 100. They have written a substantial amount of new business and three of them have gone public in spite of a skittish stock market. A fourth hopes to go public this summer.

They have been helped by the fact that they are unencumbered by liabilities on old business. Because they are not haunted by past underwriting mistakes or