January 2017/2

A few overarching themes continue to shape the reinsurance segment as 2017 begins, including excess capital, a squeeze on margins and an active M&A market as carriers reach for growth.

A new theory that suggests the southern US coastline has a buffer zone that helps to curb hurricanes under the right conditions could lead disaster forecasters to revise their models

PA market faces $35mn baseball claim; Vibe picks up Navigators' North American D&F book; Fairfax talks to Omers on Allied; Willis Towers Watson Asia duo departs; Pryce appointed to Lloyd's Franchise Board; Icat and Neon team up on D&F; Brit expands sidecar

Analysts warned of higher-than-expected catastrophe losses from P&C (re)insurers in Q4, as XL Group disclosed its own $245mn net cat loss for the period.

Dale Willetts, head of accident and health (A&H) and special risks at AmTrust at Lloyd's Syndicate 1861, has left the company to join Endurance, The Insurance Insider understands.

For many reinsurers US casualty was a safe harbour in a sea of disappointment at the 1 January renewals.

It is one of life's great paradoxes is that the older and more mature someone gets, the more irrational they become.

Growing interest in multi-line aggregate covers translated into fresh or expanded placements at 1 January by cedants such as XL Catlin and AIG, The Insurance Insider can reveal.

A brief examination of the 1 January reinsurance renewal could be misread as an incrementally positive step in the recovery of underwriters from their soft market ills.

Reinsurers are preparing to dig in for two or three years of deteriorating results, as the 1 January renewals look set to mark the last meaningful erosion of rates following years of significant compound reductions.