December 2017/1

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.