The market will make 2003 an attrac...

The market will make 2003 an attractive time for underwriting, unless the investment environment poses real challenges for insurance companies, industry leaders say. Greater financial transparency, rising health-care expenses and the ongoing need for tort reform are also part of the mixed forecast.

2002 was a year of up and downs. Insurance prices watched to go up, capacity went down; health-care outlays continued to climb and investment replys stayed low. The result is a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges awaiting insurers in 2003 which industry leaders say is driven largely by way of the state of the capital markets.