According to ISO’s Insurance Issues Series study, Insurer Financial Results of 2004 found that the insurance industry ended a 26-year drought by posting a $5 billion net profit on underwriting in 2004 despite slowing premium growth and a deluge of catastrophe losses. Powered by the best underwriting results in almost three decades, insurers’ net income after taxes and overall profitability rose for the third consecutive year, and insurers’ surplus climbed to a record high.