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Reinsurers mull impact of storms; At Baden-Baden, talk focuses on hurricanes, floods, cost of capital.

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Byline: SARAH VEYSEY

BADEN-BADEN, Germany-It wasn't business as usual at this year's Baden-Baden reinsurance meeting, as attendees were still sorting out the impact on the market of the unusually active and costly Atlantic hurricane season.

The annual gathering of reinsurers and brokers in the German spa town traditionally is the backdrop for serious discussions on European renewals, and typically some contracts are signed. But this year, attendees said, the uncertainty surrounding reinsurance losses from the U.S. hurricanes meant discussions were more general in nature.

Many also said the renewal season likely will run late as underwriters seek to fully assess the impact of the U.S. storms.

"It will be a long and late renewal,'' said Frank Rieder, vp at Cooper Gay Steele & Co. Ltd., a division of London-based broker Cooper Gay Group in New York.

Reinsurers are waiting to see what will happen in the retrocessional market, and this likely will hold up renewals for certain lines of business, particularly catastrophe business, noted Frank Schaar, executive vp and member of the global executive committee of Converium Holding A.G. in Cologne, Germany.

Many attendees said European reinsurance buyers should...