Aspen Insurance Holdings Reports Results for First Quarter 2009

* Diluted book value per share of $29.12, up 2.2% over the first quarter of 2008
and 3.6% over the fourth quarter of 2008.
* First quarter net income of $91.4 million, up 12.6% over the same quarter last
year.
* First quarter net investment income of $59.2 million, up 51.4% over the same
quarter last year.
* Operating earnings per share of $1.18 for the quarter, up 49.4% over the first
quarter of 2008.
* Annualized operating return on equity of 17.6% for the quarter.

HAMILTON, Bermuda--(Business Wire)--
Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited (NYSE: AHL) today reported a net profit after
tax for the first quarter of 2009 of $91.4 million and operating earnings of
$1.18 per diluted ordinary share. This compares to a net profit after tax of
$81.2 million, and operating earnings of $0.79 per diluted share for the first
quarter last year.

Book value per share on a diluted basis of $29.12 increased by $0.64 when
compared to March 31, 2008 and by $1.02 since the end of December 2008, mainly
as a result of $72.2 million of retained income generated during the first
quarter of 2009.

On March 31, 2009, Aspen repurchased $66.8 million in nominal value of its
7.401% $25 perpetual preference shares for $34.1 million and issued $25.1
million of ordinary shares, in accordance with the replacement capital covenant
which formed part of the initial preference share transaction. This repurchase
increased diluted book value per share and diluted net income per share for the
first quarter of 2009 by $0.37 and $0.38, respectively.

First Quarter 2009 Financial Highlights

($ in millions, except per share amounts and percentages)

(Unaudited)

Q1 2009 Q1 2008 Change
Gross written premium $636.8 $596.2 6.8%
Net earned premium $447.3 $391.6 14.2%
Net investment income $59.2 $39.1 51.4%
Net income after tax $91.4 $81.2 12.6%
Diluted net income per share $1.39 $0.85 63.5%
Diluted operating earnings per share $1.18 $0.79 49.4%
Net income annualized return on equity 14.8% 12.8%
Annualized operating return on equity 17.6% 12.0%
Combined ratio 84.5% 85.4%
Diluted book value per share $29.12 $28.48 2.2%

Chris O'Kane, Chief Executive Officer said, "We had a good first quarter with
continued growth in book value per share of almost 4% since the end of 2008 and
positive underwriting contributions from each of our four business segments.
Aspen is well positioned to benefit from the improving rate environment in a
number of our core lines of business. Our balance sheet remains strong and we
will continue to focus on active deployment of our capital to those segments
where we see most opportunity consistent with our diversified business model."

First Quarter 2009 Operating Highlights

* Combined ratio of 84.5% for the quarter compared with 85.4% for the first
quarter of 2008.
* Expense ratio of 28.4% for the quarter, down from 32.5% over the same quarter
last year.
* Repurchased perpetual preference shares with a nominal value of $66.8 million
for $34.1 million.
* Cash flows from operating activities of $203.2 million compared with $163.5
million in the first quarter of 2008.
* Reserve release of $9.8 million for the quarter compared with $39.5 million in
the first quarter of 2008.

Business Segment Highlights

A summary of the operating highlights for each of Aspen`s four business segments
is presented below.

Property Reinsurance

Our property reinsurance segment recorded a combined ratio of 57.6% for the
quarter compared with 63.4% for the same period in 2008. The main driver for the
improvement in the combined ratio is the increase in gross earned premiums.
Gross written premiums for the first quarter of 2009 were $220.5 million
compared to $184.2 million in the equivalent period in 2008. The increase in
gross written premiums is attributable to improving market conditions and
favorable prior year premium development.

Casualty Reinsurance

The casualty reinsurance segment combined ratio improved to 94.1% for the
quarter from 94.9% in the first quarter of 2008. The combined ratio in the
current quarter has benefited from favorable exchange rate movements coupled
with reserve releases of $3.1 million whereas the first quarter of 2008
benefited from prior year releases of $14.3 million. Gross written premium of
$186.8 million is up slightly from $182.1 million in the first quarter of 2008.

International Insurance

The international insurance segment reported a combined ratio for the first
quarter of 99.2% versus 95.5% in the first quarter of 2008. This segment had
mixed loss experience for both prior year claims and current year losses with
limited adverse prior year deterioration in respect of those lines exposed to
the global financial crisis. Gross written premiums in the quarter of $194.7
million are down slightly from $199.3 million in the first quarter of 2008.

U.S. Insurance

The combined ratio in the first quarter for the U.S. insurance segment has
improved to 88.7% compared with 103.6% in the first quarter of 2008 due to
favorable loss experience in the current quarter and an increase in earned
premium. Gross written premium for the first quarter of 2009 was $34.8 million,
an increase of 13.7% when compared to the first quarter of 2008.

Investment Performance

Net investment income for the quarter was $59.2 million compared with $39.1
million in the first quarter of 2008 due primarily to the $4.0 million
contribution from our funds of hedge funds investments, compared to $16.9
million of losses from these investments in the first quarter of 2008.
Annualized total investment return for the quarter was 3.4%.

The book yield on the fixed income portfolio was 4.42% at the end of the first
quarter of 2009, down from 4.64% at December 31, 2008. Unrealized gains on the
fixed income portfolio at the end of the first quarter of 2009 were $70.7
million, an increase of $3.3 million from the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.
Other-than-temporary impairment charges were $15.2 million for the first quarter
of 2009.

The portfolio consists of high quality diversified assets, with 30.9% of fixed
maturity assets invested in U.S. Government and other foreign government bonds
and 22.7% invested in agency-issued mortgage-backed securities. The average
credit quality of the portfolio is AA+ with an average duration of 2.9 years.

Outlook for 2009

The Company anticipates total gross written premium of $2 billion +/- 5%,
premium ceded of 10% to 12% of gross earned premium, a combined ratio in the
range of 88% to 94%, a tax rate of 13% to 16% and a cat-load of $140 million for
the remainder of the year, assuming normal loss experience.

Earnings conference call

Aspen will hold a conference call to discuss its financial results on Thursday,
April 30, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. (Eastern Time).

CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPATION DETAILS - April 30, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. (EDT)

Participant Dial-In Numbers: +1 (888) 459-5609 (US Toll Free)
+1 (404) 665-9920 (International)
Conference ID: 91944234
Please call to register at least 10 minutes before the conference call begins.

The conference call will be webcast live in the `presentations` section of the
Investor Relations page of Aspen's website, which is located at www.aspen.bm.
The earnings press release and a detailed financial supplement will be posted to
the website, as well as a brief slide presentation which may be used for
reference during the earnings call.

REPLAY DETAILS
A replay of the call will be available for 14 days via telephone and Internet
starting two hours following the end of the live call.
Replay Access: +1 (800) 642-1687 (US Toll Free)
+1 (706) 645-9291 (International)
www.aspen.bm

Replay ID: 91944234

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet

($ in millions, except per share data)

(Unaudited)

(in US$ millions) As at March 31, As at December 31,
2009 2008
ASSETS
Total investments $ 5,149.3 $ 4,944.9
Cash and cash equivalents 913.2 809.1
Reinsurance recoverable 436.7 329.6
Premiums receivable 793.6 677.5
Other assets 347.0 527.7
Total assets $ 7,639.8 $ 7,288.8

LIABILITIES
Losses and loss adjustment expenses $ 3,096.2 $ 3,070.3
Unearned premiums 963.8 810.7
Other payables 497.8 379.2
Long-term debt 249.6 249.5
Total liabilities $ 4,807.4 $ 4,509.7

SHAREHOLDERS` EQUITY
Total shareholders` equity 2,832.4 2,779.1
Total liabilities and shareholders` equity $ 7,639.8 $ 7,288.8

Tangible book value per share $ 29.85 $ 28.85
Diluted book value per share (treasury stock $ 29.12 $ 28.10
method)

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Summary Consolidated Statements of Income

($ in millions, except share, per share data and ratios)

(Unaudited)

(in US$ millions) Three Months Ended Three Months Ended
March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

UNDERWRITING REVENUES
Gross written premiums $ 636.8 $ 596.2
Premiums ceded (130.2 ) (76.6 )
Net written premiums 506.6 519.6
Change in unearned premiums (59.3 ) (128.0 )
Net earned premiums $ 447.3 $ 391.6
UNDERWRITING EXPENSES
Losses and loss expenses 250.8 207.2
Acquisition expenses 78.6 76.4
General and administrative expenses 48.5 50.8
Total underwriting expenses $ 377.9 $ 334.4
Underwriting income 69.4 57.2
OTHER OPERATING REVENUE
Net investment income 59.2 39.1
Interest expense (3.9 ) (3.9 )
Total other operating revenue $ 55.3 $ 35.2

Other income (expense) (2.7 ) (2.2 )
OPERATING INCOME BEFORE TAX 122.0 90.2
OTHER
Net realized and unrealized exchange (losses) gains (2.3 ) 4.3
Net realized investment (losses) gains (12.2 ) 1.0
INCOME BEFORE TAX 107.5 95.5
Income taxes expense (16.1 ) (14.3 )
NET INCOME AFTER TAX 91.4 81.2
Dividends paid on ordinary shares (12.3 ) (12.9 )
Dividend paid on preference shares (6.9 ) (6.9 )
Retained income $ 72.2 $ 61.4
Components of net income (after tax)
Operating income 105.7 76.0
Net realized and unrealized exchange (losses) gains (2.3 ) 4.3
after tax
Net realized investment (losses) gains after tax (12.0 ) 0.9
NET INCOME AFTER TAX $ 91.4 $ 81.2

Loss ratio 56.1 % 52.9 %
Policy acquisition expense ratio 17.6 % 19.5 %
General and administrative expense ratio 10.8 % 13.0 %
Expense ratio 28.4 % 32.5 %
Combined ratio 84.5 % 85.4 %

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Summary Consolidated Financial Data

($ in millions, except share, per share data and ratios)

(Unaudited)

(in US$ Three Months Ended Three Months Ended
except for March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008
number of
shares)

Basic
earnings
per
ordinary
share
Net income $ 1.42 $ 0.87
adjusted
for
preference
share
dividend
and
cancellatio
n of
preference
shares
Operating $ 1.21 $ 0.81
income
adjusted
for
preference
dividend
Diluted
earnings
per
ordinary
share
Net income $ 1.39 $ 0.85
adjusted
for
preference
share
dividend
and
cancellatio
n of
preference
shares
Operating $ 1.18 $ 0.79
income
adjusted
for
preference
dividend

Weighted 81.535 85.511
average
number of
ordinary
shares
outstanding
(in
millions)
Weighted
average
number of
ordinary
shares
outstanding
and
dilutive
potential
ordinary
shares (in
millions)
83.572 87.957

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Summary Consolidated Segment Information

($ in millions except ratios)

(Unaudited)

Three Months Three Months
Ended March 31, Ended March 31,
2009 2008

Gross written premiums
Property Reinsurance $ 220.5 $ 184.2
Casualty Reinsurance 186.8 182.1
International Insurance 194.7 199.3
U.S. Insurance 34.8 30.6
Total $ 636.8 $ 596.2

Premiums ceded
Property Reinsurance $ 38.4 $ 8.8
Casualty Reinsurance 1.0 2.1
International Insurance 69.9 57.3
U.S. Insurance 20.9 8.4
Total $ 130.2 $ 76.6

Net written premiums
Property Reinsurance $ 182.1 $ 175.4
Casualty Reinsurance 185.8 180.0
International Insurance 124.8 142.0
U.S. Insurance 13.9 22.2
Total $ 506.6 $ 519.6

Net earned premiums
Property Reinsurance $ 139.1 $ 127.0
Casualty Reinsurance 109.5 94.7
International Insurance 175.0 150.2
U.S. Insurance 23.7 19.7
Total $ 447.3 $ 391.6

Underwriting profit
Property Reinsurance $ 58.9 $ 46.5
Casualty Reinsurance 6.4 4.8
International Insurance 1.4 6.6
U.S. Insurance 2.7 (0.7 )
Total $ 69.4 $ 57.2

Combined ratio
Property Reinsurance 57.6 % 63.4 %
Casualty Reinsurance 94.1 % 94.9 %
International Insurance 99.2 % 95.5 %
U.S. Insurance 88.7 % 103.6 %
Total 84.5 % 85.4 %

About Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited

Aspen provides reinsurance and insurance coverage to clients in various domestic
and global markets through wholly-owned subsidiaries and offices in Bermuda,
France, Ireland, Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, and
Switzerland. For the three months ended March 31, 2009, Aspen reported gross
written premiums of $636.8 million, net income of $94.1 million and total assets
of $7.6 billion. Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of "A"
("Strong") by Standard & Poor`s, an "A" ("Excellent") by A.M. Best and an "A2"
("Good") by Moody`s Investors Service. For more information about Aspen, please
visit 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 will 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," "guidance," and similar expressions of a future
or forward-looking nature.

All forward-looking statements address matters that involve risks and
uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in these
statements. Aspen believes these factors include, but are not limited to: the
continuing and uncertain impact of the current depressed credit environment, the
banking crises and economic recessions in many of the countries in which we
operate and of the measures being taken by governments to counter these issues;
the risk of a material decline in the value or liquidity of all or parts of our
investment portfolio; changes in insurance and reinsurance market conditions
that could adversely impact execution of the business plan; changes in our
ability to exercise capital management or strategic initiatives or to arrange
banking facilities as a result of prevailing market changes or changes in our
financial position; our ability to execute our business plan to enter new
markets, introduce new products and develop new distribution channels, including
their integration into our existing operations; increased counterparty risk due
to the impairment of financial institutions; changes in the total industry
losses, or our share of total industry losses, resulting from past events such
as Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and, with respect to such events, our reliance on
loss reports received from cedants and loss adjustors, our reliance on industry
loss estimates and those generated by modelling techniques, changes in rulings
on flood damage or other exclusions as a result of prevailing lawsuits and case
law, any changes in our reinsurers` credit quality and the amount and timing of
reinsurance recoverables; the impact of acts of terrorism and related
legislation and acts of war; the possibility of greater frequency or severity of
claims and loss activity, including as a result of natural or man-made
catastrophic events, than our underwriting, reserving, reinsurance purchasing or
investment practices have anticipated; evolving interpretive issues with respect
to coverage after major loss events; the level of inflation in repair costs due
to limited availability of labor and materials after catastrophes; the
effectiveness of our loss limitation methods; changes in the availability, cost
or quality of reinsurance or retrocessional coverage; the reliability of, and
changes in assumptions to, catastrophe pricing, accumulation and estimated loss
models; loss of key personnel; a decline in our operating subsidiaries` ratings
with Standard & Poor`s ("S&P"), A.M. Best or Moody`s Investors Service
("Moody`s"); changes in general economic conditions, including inflation,
foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and other factors that could
affect our investment portfolio; the number and type of insurance and
reinsurance contracts that we wrote at the January 1st and other renewal periods
in 2009 and the premium rates available at the time of such renewals within our
targeted business lines; increased competition on the basis of pricing,
capacity, coverage terms or other factors and the related demand and supply
dynamics as contracts come up for renewal; decreased demand for our insurance or
reinsurance products and cyclical changes in the insurance and reinsurance
sectors; changes in government regulations or tax laws in jurisdictions where we
conduct business; and Aspen or its Bermudian subsidiary becoming subject to
income taxes in the United States or the United Kingdom; and the effect on
insurance markets, business practices and relationships of ongoing litigation,
investigations and regulatory activity by insurance regulators and prosecutors.
For a more detailed description of these uncertainties and other factors, please
see the "Risk Factors" section in Aspen's Annual Reports on Form 10-K as filed
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 26, 2009. 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.

In addition, any estimates relating to loss events involve the exercise of
considerable judgment and reflect a combination of ground-up evaluations,
information available to date from brokers and cedants, market intelligence,
initial tentative loss reports and other sources. Due to the complexity of
factors contributing to the losses and the preliminary nature of the information
used to prepare these estimates, there can be no assurance that Aspen's ultimate
losses will remain within the stated amount.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In presenting Aspen's results, management has included and discussed certain
"non-GAAP financial measures" as such term is defined in Regulation G.
Management believes that these non-GAAP measures, which may be defined
differently by other companies, better explain Aspen's results of operations in
a manner that allows for a more complete understanding of the underlying trends
in Aspen's business. However, these measures should not be viewed as a
substitute for those determined in accordance with GAAP. The reconciliation of
such non-GAAP financial measures to their respective most directly comparable
GAAP financial measures in accordance with Regulation G is included in the
financial supplement, which can be obtained from the Investor Relations section
of Aspen's website at www.aspen.bm.

(1) Annualized Operating Return on Average Equity ("Operating ROE") is a
non-GAAP financial measure. Annualized Operating Return on Average Equity 1) is
calculated using operating income, as defined below and 2) excludes from average
equity, the average after-tax unrealized appreciation or depreciation on
investments and the average after-tax unrealized foreign exchange gains or
losses and the aggregate value of the liquidation preferences of our preference
shares. Unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on investments is primarily the
result of interest rate movements and the resultant impact on fixed income
securities, and unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on foreign exchange is
the result of exchange rate movements between the U.S. dollar and the British
pound. Such appreciation (depreciation) is not related to management actions or
operational performance (nor is it likely to be realized). Therefore, Aspen
believes that excluding these unrealized appreciations (depreciations) provides
a more consistent and useful measurement of operating performance, which
supplements GAAP information. Average equity is calculated as the arithmetic
average on a monthly basis for the stated periods.

Aspen presents Operating ROE as a measure that is commonly recognized as a
standard of performance by investors, analysts, rating agencies and other users
of its financial information.

See page 27 of Aspen's financial supplement for a reconciliation of operating
income to net income and page 8 for a reconciliation of average equity.

(2) Annualized Operating Return on Average Equity excluding gains or losses from
funds of hedge funds ("Adjusted Operating ROE") is a non-GAAP financial measure.
Annualized Operating Return on Average Equity excluding gains or losses from
funds of hedge funds 1) is calculated using adjusted operating income, as
defined below and 2) excludes from average equity, the average after-tax
unrealized appreciation or depreciation on investments and the average after-tax
unrealized foreign exchange gains or losses and the aggregate value of the
liquidation preferences of our preference shares. Unrealized appreciation
(depreciation) on investments is primarily the result of interest rate movements
and the resultant impact on fixed income securities, and unrealized appreciation
(depreciation) on foreign exchange is the result of exchange rate movements
between the U.S. dollar and the British pound. Such appreciation (depreciation)
is not related to management actions or operational performance (nor is it
likely to be realized). Therefore, Aspen believes that excluding these
unrealized appreciations (depreciations) provides a more consistent and useful
measurement of operating performance, which supplements GAAP information.
Average equity is calculated as the arithmetic average on a monthly basis for
the stated periods.

Aspen presents Adjusted Operating ROE as a measure that is commonly recognized
as a standard of performance by investors, analysts, rating agencies and other
users of its financial information.

See page 29 of Aspen's financial supplement for a reconciliation of adjusted
operating income to net income and page 8 for a reconciliation of average
equity.

(3) Operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure. Operating income is an
internal performance measure used by Aspen in the management of its operations
and represents after-tax operational results excluding, as applicable, after-tax
net realized capital gains or losses and after-tax net foreign exchange gains or
losses.

Aspen excludes after-tax net realized capital gains or losses and after-tax net
foreign exchange gains or losses from its calculation of operating income
because the amount of these gains or losses is heavily influenced by, and
fluctuates in part, according to the availability of market opportunities. Aspen
believes these amounts are largely independent of its business and underwriting
process and including them distorts the analysis of trends in its operations. In
addition to presenting net income determined in accordance with GAAP, Aspen
believes that showing operating income enables investors, analysts, rating
agencies and other users of its financial information to more easily analyze
Aspen's results of operations in a manner similar to how management analyzes
Aspen's underlying business performance. Operating income should not be viewed
as a substitute for GAAP net income. Please see above and page 27 of Aspen's
financial supplement for a reconciliation of operating income to net income.
Aspen`s financial supplement can be obtained from the Investor Relations section
of Aspen's website at www.aspen.bm.

(4) Adjusted Operating income is a non-GAAP financial measure. Adjusted
operating income is an internal performance measure used by Aspen in the
management of its operations and represents after-tax operational results
excluding, as applicable, after-tax net realized capital gains or losses,
after-tax net foreign exchange gains or losses and excludes after tax net gains
or losses from our investments in funds of hedge funds.

Aspen excludes after-tax net realized capital gains or losses, after-tax net
foreign exchange gains or losses and after tax net gains or losses from our
investments in funds of hedge funds from its calculation of operating income
because the amount of these gains or losses is heavily influenced by, and
fluctuates in part, according to the availability of market opportunities. Aspen
believes these amounts are largely independent of its business and underwriting
process and including them distorts the analysis of trends in its operations. In
addition to presenting net income determined in accordance with GAAP, Aspen
believes that showing operating income enables investors, analysts, rating
agencies and other users of its financial information to more easily analyze
Aspen's results of operations in a manner similar to how management analyzes
Aspen's underlying business performance. Operating income should not be viewed
as a substitute for GAAP net income. Please see above and page 29 of Aspen's
financial supplement for a reconciliation of adjusted operating income to net
income. Aspen`s financial supplement can be obtained from the Investor Relations
section of Aspen's website at www.aspen.bm.

(5) Diluted book value per ordinary share is a non-GAAP financial measure. Aspen
has included diluted book value per ordinary share because it takes into account
the effect of dilutive securities; therefore, Aspen believes it is a better
measure of calculating shareholder returns than book value per share. Please see
page 26 of Aspen's financial supplement for a reconciliation of diluted book
value per share to basic book value per share. Aspen's financial supplement can
be obtained from the Investor Relations section of Aspen's website at
www.aspen.bm.

Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited
Investor Contact:
Noah Fields, Head of Investor Relations, +1 441-297-9382
or
European Press Contact:
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Justin Griffiths/Sarah Gestetner, +44 (0) 20 7282 2920
or
North American Press Contact:
Abernathy MacGregor
Carina Davidson/Allyson Morris, +1 212-371-5999

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