Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings announced a realignment of most of its operations, the same day it disclosed 2014 third quarter earnings that reflected gains in pricing but hits on income due to catastrophe losses and acquisition costs.

Scott Carmilani, president and CEO of the Swiss insurance and reinsurance company, said during Allied World’s earnings call on Oct. 23 that the reorganization of many of its segments is designed “to better serve customers and trading partners.”

Right now, the Allied World is divided into: its U.S. segment, which includes Canada; International, all other regions including Bermuda,;and Reinsurance.

As of Dec. 31, 2014, Allied World’s segments will include: North American Insurance, which is all North American business including the U.S., Canada and Bermuda; Global Markets Insurance, relating to business outside of North America; and Reinsurance, which will remain unchanged.

This also means some executives within Allied World will see some tweaking of their responsibilities.

• Frank D’Orazio, president, Bermuda and International Insurance will become, president, underwriting and global risk. He’ll handle Allied World’s global underwriting plus coordination of its risk management tools across the company.
• Louis Iglesias, president, Allied World North America, will continue to oversee production and profitability for Canada and U.S. branch offices, but will also take on responsibility for all insurance lines from the company’s Bermuda business.
• Julian James, president of Allied World Assurance Company in Europe, will now become president, Global Markets. He’ll run all insurance lines of business for Allied World Europe and Syndicate 2232 as before, but also taken on responsibility for Allied World’s Asia Pacific and other operations outside of North America.

All three executives will report directly to Carmilani, the company said.

Meanwhile, Carmilani noted during the call that Allied World is finalizing agreements to snatch up the Hong Kong and Singapore operations of Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance for $215 million, following the company’s minority strategic investment, through Allied World Financial Services, in Blue Vista Capital Management.

As far Allied World’s results, the company reported nearly $31 million in net income during the quarter or $0.31 per share, versus $122.8 million or $1.18 per share in the 2013 third quarter. Allied World attributed the reduced numbers to catastrophe loss and acquisition costs.

Carmilani acknowledged the best results came from Allied World’s U.S. operations, but said that “ongoing corrective actions” have been helping throughout the company. One highlight Carmilani was quick to tout during the investor call: continued rate increases across its casualty business.

“This is now the ninth consecutive quarter in which we managed rate increases across our casualty business of 5 percent or more,” he said.

Here are Allied World’s results in detail:

• The combined ratio came in at 91.7, a solid number but up from 84.2 in the 2013 third quarter.
• Gross written premiums came in at nearly $708 million, almost 22 percent higher than the $580.9 million generated in the 2013 third quarter. Why such a large gain? Allied World attributed this to growth in all three of its segments, 25.3 percent in the U.S. insurance segment, an 8.5 percent hike for international insurance, and a whopping 27 percent gain in reinsurance, driven in large part by a renewed treaty and a large, new professional liability treaty.
• Net premiums written came in at $568.7 million, 25.5 percent higher than $453.1 million over the same period a year ago.
• Net premiums earned hit $541.7 million, 6.1 percent more than $510.8 million produced in the 2013 third quarter.
• Catastrophe losses reached almost $30 million, due to Hurricane Odile in Mexico, Windstorm Ela in Western Europe and PCS 45 in the Midwestern U.S.
• Underwriting income came in at $45 million, almost half of the $80.1 million generated during the 2013 third quarter.
• Net investment income is at $43.4 million for the quarter, 10.5 percent above the $39.3 million generated in the 2013 third quarter.