XL Capital has bounced back from an appalling 2008

Bermuda insurer XL Capital led the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index with an almost fivefold advance as chief executive officer Michael McGavick’s cost-saving and asset moves led to profit, Bloomberg reports

XL climbed $14.63 to $18.33 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading after falling more than 90% in 2008 when it was the second-worst performer in the index. The shares traded as low as $2.56 in February, falling from $85.67 as of July 2007.

The insurer had “a significant rebound in 2009, really from the depths of despair,” said Michael Paisan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. McGavick “took over a company that was essentially on the brink of going out of business. Now it is a company that is financially very sound.”

Topics