Selected financial data for the five years ended December 31, 2001 are incorporated by reference from the Corporation’s 2001 Annual Report to Shareholders, pages 44 through 47.
claims and litigation arising out of accounting disclosures by 	other companies;
Substantial premium growth was achieved in 2001 and 2000 outside the United States, particularly in Europe, our largest foreign market. Non-U.S. premiums grew 16% in both 2001 and 2000 in local currencies. However, due to the strength of the U.S. dollar, particularly in 2000, reported non-U.S. premiums increased by 12% in 2001 and only 9% in 2000.
Reported net premiums from specialty commercial insurance increased by 8% in 2001 compared with a 26% increase in 2000. Excluding the effect of including only six months of Executive Risk business in 1999, premium growth was about 17% in 2000.
Growth in our other specialty commercial business was primarily from Chubb Re, our reinsurance business that began operations in 1999. Premiums produced by Chubb Re amounted to $199 million in 2001 compared with $158 million in 2000 and $73 million in 1999. We expect reinsurance assumed business to be a significant contributor to growth in 2002.
Our loss reserves include amounts related to short tail and long tail classes of business. Short tail classes consist principally of homeowners, personal valuables and commercial property business. For these classes, the estimation of loss reserves is less complex because claims are generally reported and settled quickly and the claims relate to tangible property.
Asbestos remains the most significant and difficult mass tort for the insurance industry in terms of claims volume and dollar exposure. The continued flow of claims has pushed about a dozen manufacturers and users of asbestos products into bankruptcy since 2000. To date, approximately 50 companies have filed for bankruptcy as a result of asbestos liability. In part as a result of these bankruptcies, the volume and value of claims against viable asbestos defendants continue to increase.
Early asbestos claims focused on the major manufacturers, distributors or installers of asbestos products under the products liability section of primary general liability policies, which typically had aggregate limits that capped an insurer’s liability. A growing number of asbestos claims by insureds are being presented as “non-products” claims, such as those by installers of asbestos products and by property owners who allegedly had asbestos on their property, under the premises or operations section of primary general liability policies. Unlike products exposures, these non-products exposures typically had no aggregate limits, creating potentially greater exposure. Further, in an effort to seek additional insurance coverage, some insureds that have substantially eroded their products coverage
Market risk represents the potential for loss due to adverse changes in the fair value of financial instruments. Our primary exposure to market risks relates to our investment portfolio, which exposes the Corporation and its property and casualty subsidiaries to risks related to interest rates and, to a lesser extent, credit quality, prepayment, foreign currency exchange rates and equity prices. We also have exposure to market risks through our credit derivatives business and our debt obligations. Analytical tools and monitoring systems are in place to assess each of these elements of market risk.