Circular to all Members At the Annual General Meeting of Assuranceforeningen Skuld (Gjensidig) (“the Association”) held in Oslo, Norway on 29 August 2013, members and clients received reports on matters of importance to the Association's business and were happy to note that during the financial year of 2012, the club's entered mutual tonnage passed 75 million GT and that the Association continued to present a positive technical result for the tenth consecutive year. 2012 Financial Year The Board of Directors' report and accounts for the Association were approved by the Annual General Meeting. Skuld ended 2012 with a positive result of USD 18 million. Record high pool claims costs reduced underwriting surplus compared to previous years. However, the clear focus on controlled underwriting during growth delivered positive technical results for an entire decade. With the positive contributions from investments, contingency reserves have been lifted to USD 308 million. The Skuld Group now has a record strong capitalisation, achieved through disciplined and strategic growth. The upgrade to A rating, stable outlook – affirmed in July 2013 - by Standard and Poor’s was an important validation of the Association’s strategy. Premium income growth is mainly driven by commercial operations, particularly the growth in our Lloyd’s Syndicate 1897. Skuld’s 58.3% ownership in the Lloyd’s syndicate is consolidated into the Skuld Group figures. The churn-effect on the mutual owners’ book of business, a challenge for the whole P&I industry, slows down premium growth. The significant rise in costs of pool claims reported by other P&I clubs has led to a deficit on the mutual P&I book of business. Skuld had no pool claims in 2012, but still has to reserve and pay its share of the pooling system within the International Group of P&I clubs. The balanced underwriting result is mainly derived from profits on the non-mutual book of business such as P&I cover for charterers a