U.S. life/health industry net premiums written ticked up 2.6percent to $424.2 billion over nine months. It was the firstincrease for the industry since year-end 2008.

According to a statement released by A.M. Best Co.,admittedassets advanced 4.6 percent to $5.1 trillion from year-end 2009,aided by modest increases in separate account assets.

Capital and surplus, including the asset valuation reserve,continued to experience modest improvement, resulting in a 9percent increase to $338.9 billion from year-end 2009.

An after-tax net operating gain of $26.0 billion was recorded,approximately 31 percent below the prior year period. The top 25writers (ranked by nine-month 2010 admitted assets) accounted forthe following percentages of key financial results for the U.S.life/health industry: admitted assets (78.2 percent); separateaccount assets (88.6 percent); net premiums written (67.0 percent);after-tax net operating gain (67.8 percent); realized capitallosses (72.0 percent); and capital and surplus plus the assetvaluation reserve (66.9 percent).

"The U.S. life/health industry continues to recover from theeconomic crisis with improvement in a majority of the key financialresults reviewed in the statistical study. It will be interestingto track the progress in net premiums written relative tochallenges posed by (but not limited to) high unemployment, modestU.S. economic growth and continued uncertainty," said Richard F.Kirk, senior business information analyst for A.M. Best'sFinancial Suite products.

These results are included in an in-depth study of the insuranceindustry's 2010 nine-month financial results, available tosubscribers of Best's Statement File - Life/Health - USdatabase.