RenaissanceRe and Partners Sponsor "Safe Homes for All" Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum

PEMBROKE, Bermuda--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) today announced the successful completion of the "Safe Homes for All" Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum, held in Washington, D.C. on June 24th. The Forum's principal sponsors were RenaissanceRe's affiliate, WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. and the RenaissanceRe Risk Sciences Foundation, together with leading non-profit organizations Federal Alliance for Safe Homes - FLASH(R), the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) and the National Housing Conference (NHC).

The Safe Homes for All Leadership Forum featured a keynote address from Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, and presentations from leading low-income housing advocates, environmentalists, disaster management administrators, community organizations, academics, scientists, and policymakers. In addition to the Forum sponsor organizations, numerous other organizations were represented by Forum delegates and speakers including the Apollo Alliance, American Rivers, Enterprise Community Partners, Inc., the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Florida Emergency Management Agency, Florida State University's Storm Risk Center, the Hope Community Development Agency, the Insurance Information Institute, the National Leased Property Association, the National Wildlife Federation, Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future, Texas A&M University, the Wharton School of Business's Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, and others.

Neill Currie, President and CEO of Renaissance Re said, "On behalf of RenaissanceRe and our Risk Sciences Foundation, I am delighted to express our thanks to the capacity crowd of nearly 250 thought leaders who participated in the Leadership Forum. We would particularly like to acknowledge the speakers who donated their time and expertise to contribute to our shared goals of advancing disaster safety. "RenaissanceRe is proud to support mitigation initiatives such as the Leadership Forum series and research programs such as the RenaissanceRe Wall of Wind, which inform and enhance the catastrophe-oriented products, services and solutions we've pioneered for our customers and partners since our formation in 1993," said Currie. "We believe that investment in mitigation and other policies that proactively reduce risk represent the most promising means to help all residents of storm-exposed communities safeguard themselves from natural catastrophes and, over time, to also reduce the economic hazards faced by coastal families and businesses."

RenaissanceRe is committed to researching and developing risk mitigation techniques and raising awareness of the benefits of effective risk mitigation. The organization believes that fostering safer, more weather-resistant communities will not only contribute to reducing insurance premium costs over time, but will also ultimately save lives. In addition to the Leadership Forum series of events, the company's current mitigation initiatives include the RenaissanceRe Wall of Wind, a state-of-the-art testing facility that simulates the effects of hurricanes on full-scale buildings to improve housing construction practices and identify effective mitigation techniques, and "StormStruck: A Tale of Two Homes(TM), an educational attraction located in INNOVENTIONS, in the heart of Epcot(R). Visitors to "StormStruck(TM) can experience the power of a weather event, while learning how to make their homes safer from rain, hail, high winds, lightning and more, through exhilarating special effects and interactive audience participation. In addition, "StormStruck(TM) includes a post-show information area to raise awareness about weather risks, mitigation research, and recommendations.

Additional information about and presentations from the Safe Homes for All Leadership Forum, as well as the prior events in the Risk Mitigation Leadership Forum series, is available at www.mitigationleadership.com.

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. is a leading global provider of reinsurance and insurance. Our business consists of two segments: (1) Reinsurance, which includes catastrophe reinsurance, specialty reinsurance and certain joint ventures and other investments managed by our subsidiary RenaissanceRe Ventures Ltd., and (2) Individual Risk business, which includes primary insurance and quota share reinsurance. RenaissanceRe is recognized for excellence in the industry through disciplined underwriting, capital management expertise, sophisticated risk modeling and responsive client service.

WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. is a U.S. affiliate of RenaissanceRe that models atmospheric hazards and their impact on property exposures to create superior risk analytics for businesses. WeatherPredict's team of advanced scientists draws upon expertise in oceanography, meteorology, wind engineering, aerodynamics and computer simulation. In addition, WeatherPredict Consulting Inc. helps lead RenaissanceRe's hurricane risk mitigation efforts.

    Source: RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.

Released July 2, 2009