the country's national reinsurer 

On December 22, 1977, the Presidential Decree No. 1270 was issued establishing National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines and designating it as the national institution authorized to subscribe to the portion of capital stock of Asian Reinsurance Corporation allotted to the Republic of the Philippines. Asian Reinsurance Corporation is a multi-government-initiated reinsurance entity based in Bangkok, Thailand established to foster regional cooperation among insurance companies doing business in Asia. 

The Company was subsequently incorporated on June 7, 1978 as a domestic professional reinsurance firm to provide life and non-life reinsurance to the Philippines and neighboring insurance markets. Regular commercial operations commenced on January 2, 1979. 

PhilNaRe’s original shareholders were a mix of life and non-life insurance companies operating in the Philippine market, as wells the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). From a fledging corporation with a paid-up capital of P10 Million and gross written premiums of P 20 Million, PhilNaRe has, over a span of 30 years, become the leading domestic professional reinsurer in the Philippines. Shareholders’ equity as of December 31, 2007 amounted to P6.7 Billion and gross written premiums for the year ended December 31, 2007 totaled P4.3 Billion. 

In 2003, the Company conducted a self assessment which revealed that while it had grown significantly through the years, it has lagged behind its regional counterparts in terms of retention ratio and paid up capital. Furthermore, increasing incidence of terrorist attacks and natural calamities were resulting in higher losses and a diminution of reinsurance capacity. Global reinsurance companies were expected to focus resources on their primary markets and offer less capacity to smaller markets such as the Philippines. 

Faced with this scenario, the Company decided to increase its capacity or the amount of business it can write and retain. It embarked on a Capital Enhancement Program (“CEP”) to increase its capital base from P1 Billion as of end of 2003 to at least P5 Billion. The Company’s CEP is broken down into four phases: (a) a stock rights issue; (b) a merger with Malayan Reinsurance Corporation (UMRe), the Philippines’ second largest domestic reinsurer; (c) an initial public offering of shares; and (d) private placement with an institutional or strategic investor. 

In June 2005, the Company successfully implemented the first phase of the CEP with fresh capital infusion of P776 million made by its stockholders through a stock rights issue. The second phase of the CEP was completed in March 2006, with the approval of the SEC of the Company’s merger with UMRe, with the Company as the surviving entity (the “Merger”). The Merger brought an increase in capital base of P 1.4 Billion. UMRe was itself the product of a merger between Universal Reinsurance Corporation (“URC”) and Malayan Reinsurance Corporation (“MRC”) in 2004 with URC, subsequently renamed as UMRe, as the surviving entity.  

The Merger was undertaken to combine the resources, capabilities, customers and operations of PhilNaRe and UMRe to bring about a bigger, stronger and more competitive reinsurance entity and provide it with an edge in competing on a global scale. The Merger created one strong Philippine reinsurance company and resulted in the diversification of the Company’s portfolio in terms of business lines and customer base. 

On January 15, 2007, the Company received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to change its name to “National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines, doing business under the names and style of Philippine Reinsurance Company; PhilNaRe” to enhance its image as the country’s national reinsurance in line with its thrust of increasing business in the region. 

On April 27, 2007, PhilNaRe listed its shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange in an initial public offering (IPO) that raised approximately P2.8 Billion in fresh capital. Major stockholders of the Company include the GSIS, the BPI Group and the Malayan Group.