Signs clearly point to a turn in the hard cycle, with prices beginning to show slight moderation. A nine-month net gain on underwriting-the industry's first in at least 19 years-the length of time the insurance services office (iso) has been keeping tabs, has spurred a very modest turn in the hard cycle and a return to at least mild price competition between insurers. According to the ISO, the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry's net income after taxes rose 28.3%, to $26.7 billion, in the first nine months of 2004 from $20.8 billion in the first nine months of 2003. ISO and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) also noted that the industry's surplus, or statutory net worth, reflecting the growth in income, increased $22 billion, or 6.3%, to $369 billion at the end of September 2004, compared with $347 billion at year-end 2003.
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