Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Reports First Quarter 2005 Financial Results

HAMILTON, BERMUDA: April 28, 2005 - Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE: AHL;BSX:AHL.BH) today reported a net income of $70.1 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, for the three months ended March 31, 2005.

Gross written premiums were $804.1 million for the first quarter 2005.

Net investment income was $25.5 million for the first quarter 2005.

Chris O'Kane, chief executive officer, said, "I am pleased with our continued progress in executing our diversified specialty insurance and reinsurance strategy. The strength of our first quarter results is encouraging and I believe we have established a solid foundation from which to build throughout the remainder of the year. In general, we have seen pricing discipline maintained in our industry and we remain highly focused on ensuring the business we write is appropriately rated."

Shareholders' equity increased from $1,481.5 million at December 31, 2004 to $1,529.1 million at March 31, 2005.

Earnings conference call

Aspen will hold a conference call tomorrow, April 29, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to discuss first quarter 2005 financial results.  Investors may participate in the live conference call by dialing 800-473-6123 (toll-free domestic U.S.) or 973-582-2706 (international).  Please call to register at least 10 minutes before the conference call begins.  A replay of the call will be available for 10 days via telephone starting approximately two hours following the live call on April 29, 2005,  and can be accessed at 877-519-4471 (toll-free domestic U.S.) or 973-341-3080 (international); passcode: 5903987. The live call and a replay can also be heard via Aspen's website at www.aspen.bm.

In addition, a financial supplement relating to the Company's financial results for the first quarter 2005 is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.aspen.bm. The financial supplement includes further information about the Company's new business segments. 

About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited was established in June 2002.  Aspen is a Bermudian holding company that provides property and casualty reinsurance in the global market, property and liability insurance principally in the United Kingdom and the United States and marine and aviation insurance worldwide through Aspen Insurance UK Limited. Aspen's operations are conducted through its wholly-owned subsidiaries located in London, Bermuda and the United States: Aspen Insurance UK Limited, Aspen Insurance Limited and Aspen Specialty Insurance Company. Aspen has four operating segments: property reinsurance, casualty reinsurance, specialty insurance and reinsurance and property and casualty insurance. Aspen's principal existing shareholders include The Blackstone Group, Candover Partners Limited, Wellington Underwriting plc and Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity.  For more information about Aspen, please visit the Company's website at www.aspen.bm.  

Application of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

This press release contains, and Aspen's earnings conference call may contain, written or oral "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements include all statements that do not relate solely to historical or current facts, and can be identified by the use of words such as "expect," "intend," "plan," "believe," "project," "anticipate," "seek," "will,"  "estimate," "may," "continue," and similar expressions of a future or forward-looking nature.

All forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the Company's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements.  Important events that could cause the actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war and related legislations; the possibility of greater frequency or severity of or unanticipated losses from natural or man-made catastrophes, including losses developing from the 2004 windstorms in the southeastern U.S. and Japan; the effectiveness of the Company's loss limitation methods; changes in the availability, cost or quality of reinsurance or retrocessional coverage; the loss of key personnel; a decline in the operating subsidiaries' ratings with Standard & Poor's, A.M. Best or Moody's; changes in general economic conditions; increased competition on the basis of pricing, capacity, coverage terms or other factors; decrease in demand for the Company's insurance or reinsurance products and cyclical downturn of the industry; and changes in governmental regulation or tax laws in the jurisdictions where the Company conducts business, the total industry losses resulting from the 2004 windstorms, the actual number of the Company's insureds incurring losses from these storms, the limited actual loss reports received from the Company's insureds to date, the Company's reliance on industry loss estimates and those generated by modeling techniques, the impact of these storms on the Company's reinsurers, the amount and timing of reinsurance recoverables and reimbursements actually received by the Company from its reinsurers and the overall level of competition, and the related demand and supply dynamics, in the wind exposed property reinsurance lines as contracts come up for renewal.  For a more detailed description of these uncertainties and other factors, please see the "Risk Factors" section in Aspen's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 14, 2005.  Aspen undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made.