Issues

The decision of Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Liz Truss to push the discount rate to minus 0.75 percent stems from a 1999 House of Lords ruling that predates the dotcom crash, the subsequent bull market and the ensuing credit crisis - and that critics say has little relevance today.

Insurers are hoping for a short stay in negative discount rate purgatory as a consultation with Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond gets underway.

The impact of the Ogden rate change will be more unevenly distributed through the reinsurance market than many other losses, with some reinsurers having bet heavily on UK motor reinsurance while others eschewed the market entirely.

Never underestimate the ability of even the best-intentioned authorities to mess things up.

UK excess-of-loss (XoL) motor reinsurers are targeting rate rises of 50 percent off the back of a projected £5bn ($6n) hit from changes to the Ogden rate, as they look to secure rapid payback after the shock loss.

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

Lancashire recorded a minor dip in income from asset management platform Kinesis in 2016, but the company's chief financial officer Elaine Whelan said the unit made a stable contribution to the group's return on equity (RoE).

AIG has taken steps to increase its reinsurance protection against catastrophe volatility in the past year after it halved the trigger point of its US property catastrophe reinsurance programme.

Florida Citizens Property Insurance is planning to spend under $100mn to buy just $1.1bn to $1.3bn of total reinsurance limit in the mid-year renewals.

The Insurance Insider's index of P&C (re)insurance companies rose by 1.04 percent in the week to hit 1,055.5 points.

US specialty insurers reported declining annualised operating returns on equity (RoEs) in the fourth quarter of 2016, as a modest improvement in investment returns failed to compensate for a contraction in underwriting margins.

Underwriting performance in The Insurance Insider's US specialty composite deteriorated in the three months to 31 December for the first time in the past five years.