Confounding skeptics who said it couldn't be done, executives for four of the 10 new Bermuda companies (13 if you count sidecars) were up and running for Jan. 1 reinsurance renewals this year. Most of the group Benfield refers to as "billion-dollar babies" told National Underwriter that they moved quickly from crawling to walking with ready-made books of business, quick hires, existing infrastructure, or years of experience through which they'd cemented long-term relationships with brokers and customers.

Two start-ups conceived after last year's hurricanes were never actually born, according to a January report by Benfield Group. Ascendant Re and Castellum Re were granted licenses by the Bermuda Monetary Authority but failed to start, said the report–"Swings and Roundabouts"–highlighting an array of issues for all the newbies, such as the need to get ratings in order to raise capital, as well as infrastructure and staffing issues.

While short-tail business is a common focus, not every newcomer was enticed solely by good prospects in property-catastrophe reinsurance. Don Kramer, chairman and chief executive of Ariel Re, proclaimed: "We're not going to be a one-trick pony." In contrast, Conan Ward, chief underwriting officer of Validus Reinsurance, had almost the opposite vision. "We won't be all things to all people," he said.