December 2017/1

Tangible evidence of downward pressure on ceding commissions is emerging in the US casualty and professional liability reinsurance market, following the placement of a number of deals leading up to the key 1 January renewals

Following any major loss event, the great debate always recurs: how interconnected is the global insurance industry?

FM Global has told its reinsurers that it does not expect Hurricane Maria claims in Puerto Rico to attach its main property cat excess-of-loss programme, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

Axis Capital has started to look for a renewal rights deal for Steve Saunders' international downstream energy book that could also see the team move to a rival, The Insurance Insider understands.

Berkshire Hathaway has the largest exposure on Pacific Gas and Electric's $850mn general liability programme, which could be significantly eroded by the Californian wildfires, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The prospect of Pacific Gas and Electric burning through an estimated $850mn of liability cover will only add momentum to underwriters' push for 2018 rate hikes across the US casualty market.

Underwriters face the prospect of mounting data protection-related liability claims following a landmark UK High Court judgment against Morrisons, experts have said.

The liability exposure from data breaches and cyber attacks is growing ever more apparent: but don't be fooled into thinking this is just an issue for the cyber (re)insurance market.

Markel's managing director of reinsurance Robert Blazer is leaving the specialty carrier, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

The soft market for upstream energy is over.

USAA has retained half the principal of its $80mn Residential Re 2013-2 class 1 cat bond and extended the risk period beyond a 6 December maturity date ahead of a possible California wildfire claim.

A parliamentary committee has passed risk transformation regulations that will allow for an ILS regime in the UK.

After a series of disastrous renewal seasons characterised by over-capacity and falling demand, the upstream energy market in London looks set to achieve mid-single-digit rate increases at 1 January.

While the P&C sector was a sea of red in the third quarter, some carriers performed better than others against the expectation of analysts - although investor reaction remained muted.

The collateralised reinsurance or private insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is likely to witness 10 to 30 percent premium rate rises in 2018 depending on the line of business, Twelve Capital has said.

P&C (re)insurance companies suffered perhaps the heaviest ever cat quarter on record in the three months to 30 September 2017, as the active hurricane season along with two earthquakes in Mexico generated billions of dollars of claims.

Weaker favourable prior-year development was again a feature in the third quarter results for most carriers in our analysis.

The third quarter catastrophes are estimated to have generated around $100bn in insured losses - still the most widely circulated claims tally despite recent market scepticism, with only around a third of that sum having been publicly disclosed to date.

US auto insurers are expected to benefit from further rate increases that will feed through to the bottom line this year and into 2018, according to broker JLT Re.

Asbestos loss trends have stabilised but remain a persistent drain on the US P&C sector, with an estimated $13bn funding gap between the $100bn projected total liability and the $87bn paid out or reserved for as of last year, AM Best data indicates.

Hyperion would "absolutely" consider another transformative M&A deal following its $400mn investment from Canadian institutional investor Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), CEO David Howden has said.

Investment returns remained subdued year-on-year for the vast majority of the companies in our analysis, ranging from 1.7 percent to 6.5 percent for the third quarter.