Analysis

Property cat underwriters have been pleasantly surprised by news that Florida's cat fund is on course to repeat the $1bn reinsurance placement it purchased last year.

The pace of rate reductions continued to slow at the 1 April reinsurance renewals as a combination of resistance from underwriters, increased demand and the impact of losses helped support pricing.

Share price data on The Insurance Insider's universe of P&C (re)insurers

Universal suffered the biggest share price fall among The Insider 30 last week after enjoying a price rally the week before, with the carrier down 8.6 percent to $17.32 per share on Thursday (24 March).

The publicly traded Florida homeowners' sector looks attractive again for potential investors after a significant sell-off in recent months, according to Janney Capital analysts.

The sustained and perilously low global price for oil could lead to an increase in energy losses as suppliers cut back on health and safety spending, a new report from Marsh has warned.

The Insurance Insider's class-by-class breakdown of Lloyd's 2015 annual results

Lloyd's profits plummeted by 29.6 percent year-on-year in 2015 from £3.01bn to £2.12bn, as reduced investment returns compressed the Corporation's bottom line alongside a weaker underwriting performance.

The Lloyd's market produced a 8.95 percent return on capacity for the closed 2013 year of account (YoA), a drop of 3.4 percentage points on the return booked the previous year.

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has warned that the insurance industry is facing an increasing risk of billion-dollar losses from mega-ships as demand for larger container vessels continues unabated.

Global reinsurers' P&C reinsurance arms reported a general improvement in underwriting performance in the final quarter of 2015, with a benign catastrophe environment helping produce better results.

Despite suppressed demand for reinsurance coverage in the P&C market and continued oversupply of capacity, global reinsurers successfully found opportunities to expand their portfolios in the final quarter of 2015.