Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Reports Third Quarter

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE: AHL;BSX:AHL.BH) today reported a net loss of $(362.0) million, or $(5.22) per diluted share, for the three months ended September 30, 2005 and $(208.1) million, or $(3.00) per diluted share for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.

Gross written premiums were $494.0 million for the third quarter 2005 and $1,847.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.

Net investment income was $29.4 million for the third quarter 2005 and $82.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2005.

Chris O'Kane, chief executive officer, said, "Our third quarter results are clearly disappointing.  This has been an exceptional year for natural catastrophes.  Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma present major challenges to our industry and we will make the necessary revisions to our approach towards underwriting property reinsurance to take full advantage of the opportunities that will emerge.  As we move towards the January renewal season, we expect to see dramatic increase in rates in loss impacted lines and significant improvements in policy wordings.  I believe that Aspen is influential and has a leading position in areas such as offshore energy physical damage insurance and property catastrophe reinsurance which will see the most significant improvements.  The Company is well positioned to benefit from these changes in market conditions and our diversified business model will continue to serve us well."

Shareholders' equity decreased from $1,481.5 million at December 31, 2004 to $1,223.9 million at September 30, 2005.

Subsequent to the end of our third quarter 2005, we raised approximately $400 million through the sale of our shares, of which $390 million was contributed to the capital of Aspen Insurance Limited, our Bermudian insurance subsidiary.

Earnings conference call

Aspen will hold a conference call tomorrow, October 28, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. (ET) to discuss third 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); conference ID: 6542523  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 October 28, 2005,  and can be accessed at 877-519-4471 (toll-free domestic U.S.) or 973-341-3080 (international); digital pin: 6542523. 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 third quarter 2005 and nine months ended September 30, 2005 is available in the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.aspen.bm.

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 and reinsurance 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 related legislations and acts of war; the possibility of greater frequency or severity of or unanticipated losses from natural or man-made catastrophes, including Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the New Orleans Flood; evolving interpretive issues with respect to coverage as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the New Orleans Flood; the level of inflation in repair costs due to limited availability of labor and materials after catastrophes; 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; changes in governmental regulation or tax laws in the jurisdictions where the Company conducts business; the total industry losses resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the New Orleans Flood; 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 preliminary nature of possible loss information received by brokers to date on behalf of cedants; 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; the overall level of competition, and the related demand and supply dynamics 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 and Aspen's Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 4, 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.