Casualty treaty

Fontana 2.0 will encompass a more flexible investment strategy than the 2022 vehicle.

After a challenging period, the industry is now earning above its cost of capital.

The executive said that outside of property cat, renewals will be “relatively stable”.

The Caymans-based reinsurer’s Q3 CoR was 86.6%, down 9.3 points YoY.

The Bermuda carrier brought a winding-up petition earlier in October.

The company’s stock fell nearly 9% as the market digested news of an ADC, renewal rights deal and reserve charge.

The appointments are aimed at offering a clearer team structure.

Reinsurers are willing to concede on pricing, while cyber interest is on the rise.

The two lines will add £11mn in planned premium.

The reinsurer stressed it “did not shy” from cat business in 2023.

Class actions and third-party litigation funding will drive up losses.

In July, he took the role on interim basis from Laure Forgeron.

As both carriers and reinsurers deal with softening markets, all eyes are on hurricane-prone areas.

The facility will initially focus on US, Bermudian and European business.

The Bermuda reinsurer has been active in ILS since launching in 2007.

Inigo executives told Insurance Insider last year they were weighing up the casualty treaty market.

The combined casualty treaty team has also made a number of hires.

Reinsurer executives stressed that the industry worked hard on setting the right structure.

Blackstone-style capital seeking to get closer to source is a net negative for reinsurers.

Sources said that the carrier has held preliminary talks with private debt investors.

Being conservative and stable is the name of the reinsurer’s game.

The private ILS segment took losses from LA wildfires and Mid-West severe convective storms in H1 2025.

Reinsurers and their cedants are feeling their books are in better shape, although the market is still uneven.

CEO Thierry Léger also stressed his intention to repair the carrier’s relations with Covea.

Terms are expected to hold, underpinning the stronger recent performance of reinsurers.

The reinsurer’s new CEO said he sees no need for a radical shift in strategy.

Rates will remain elevated in a period of structurally higher risk premia.

Supply for property outstrips demand, but the casualty market is “bifurcated”.

The ratings agency warned negative PYD on US casualty will likely continue.

Angus Hampton, meanwhile, has been promoted to head of casualty in place of Mario Binetti.

The Bermudian reiterated its pledge to improve performance.

The CEO said the carrier will prioritise margin over top-line growth.

The vehicle will support Ascot’s casualty business in the US and Bermuda.

Laure Forgeron has worked at the Swiss carrier since 2009 in numerous senior positions.

The changes affect operations in Switzerland, Bermuda and the US.

The broker built out Lockton Re’s US casualty and professional lines treaty book.

The underwriter joined Catlin in 2006.

The carrier booked EUR800mn in LA losses in the P&C segment.

The firm expects to replace the volume with Innovations-channel business.

Hamilton also expects rising demand and stable supply for 1 June renewals.

Sentiment at the ILS Connect event hosted by Insurance Insider ILS was generally positive.

The CUO described the pricing dynamics in the line as “strong and good”.

The only major product line to see rate increases was casualty.

The property segment experienced a 113.5-point impact from the California wildfires.

The executive has managed both casualty and personal lines reinsurance books.

The executive, Everest CEO from 1994 to 2013, has served as board chair since 1994.

Instead, the reinsurer plans to write more casualty business through its innovations book.

The carrier increased premium by 7% at the January renewals.

The firm projects losses from the fires at between $160mn-$190mn.

The broker added reinsurers remain cautious on US casualty risk.

Mathieu Loisel joins the reinsurance broker from New Re.

Many cedants secured aggregate and subsequent coverage at 1 January.

Concern over rate adequacy remains, but reinsurers are delving deeper into data rather than walking away.

The agency’s outlook for global reinsurance remains at Positive.

The additions included significant reserve bolstering for recent year portfolios 2021-2023.

The market reacted to the $2.4bn charge in a positive light.

The carrier has also completed a review of its L&H unit.

The carrier’s Q3 net income will be around $100mn, far below consensus.

The broker said the casualty segment is approaching an “inflexion point”.

Jack Gardner and Tom Kirwan remain in post at Ascot.

Overall, insurance rates fell by 1%, led by competition in property.

European property cat rates stabilised and, in some cases, decreased this year following corrections in 2023.

Reinsurers will likely push for double-digit US premium rate increases.

Legal trends, the primary pricing micro-cycle and other factors all play into an opaque outlook.

Negotiations are getting tougher, but overall market capacity is stable.

Reinsurers are high on their ‘redemption arc’. The question is – how long will it last?

Renewals will depend on clients’ ability to differentiate themselves from broad-brush trends.

Now should be the time to grow in casualty reinsurance – but is it?

“They want to grow their portfolios,” Guy Carpenter's CEO added.

The new broking president added that hundreds of Marsh staff would not show up tomorrow at WTW.

The broker said another strong year would drive pressure for “reasonably significant rate reductions” next year.

Fears around social inflation have maintained upwards pressure on US liability reinsurance pricing.

The new hire will build a portfolio of niche liability classes.

The Lloyd’s chief of markets said he was generally comfortable with market fundamentals.

The underwriter will head up casualty reinsurance for the US and elsewhere.

The new CEO needs to fix the underwriting, but should also ask the bigger questions.

The carrier added casualty reserves of more than $500mn during Q4.

The carrier said it has acted prudently on 2016-19 GL loss trends.

Being underweight US casualty gives the firm more room than peers to manoeuvre.

The reinsurer took a harder line than peers on casualty treaty at the latest renewal.

In its first year under new ownership and after setting up its own managing agency in 2022, the Lloyd’s syndicate is looking at ways to leverage its infrastructure.

The flight of reinsurers to mid- and upper layers of programmes is influenced by recent experience but softening at this level can be seen as a risky move.

In the second part of our themes for 2024 outlook, we explore how fear of missing out in cat reinsurance is still contrasting with an upstreaming of risk that is creating fallout for primary insurers, while momentum in facilitisation and ESG continues.

Reinsurers are looking to grow in top-layer cat risk, resulting in “variable” outcomes on sign-downs.

In the first section of our two-part outlook for 2024, we explore why macro-economic concerns are taking a step back, though casualty pricing micro-cycles highlight ongoing caution.

The broker said over-placement on some deals was a positive sign for brokers, though reinsurance capacity is still very tight in some areas.

The lack of momentum reflects on a general belief that underlying casualty business is well-priced for current years.

Variations between the casualty and cat markets mean 2024 cat outcomes may be far less uniform than they were this year.

The mood at the association’s annual meeting is vastly more congenial this year, but challenges remain, particularly around long-tail lines.

With US third-quarter reporting season being well underway, the results so far highlight further runway for the hard property E&S market.

The reinsurer said hardening of property reinsurance conditions must continue.

Loss severity and prior-year development in US casualty dominated discussion at The Broadmoor.

Lloyd's chief of markets Patrick Tiernan said the Corporation is comfortable that a cyber risk pre-mortem exercise showed the market could cope with a major cyber incident.

Earlier this week, this publication revealed that the firm parted ways with treaty VP and former TransRe executive Humberto Contasta.

Reinsurers are less worried about their property books compared to last year, and eyeing development of casualty loss costs due to social and macroeconomic inflation.

Chaucer joins RSA, Liberty and Axa in the quota share arrangement.

The 17% uplift in its retention comes as reinsurers push for higher attachments.

Inflation, heightened cat activity and years of poor reinsurance returns are fuelling demands for wholesale change in the European market.

The deal follows a decision to withdraw from some direct Irish business.

The former reinsurance leader’s exit from treaty highlights wider pressures on the market.

The underwriter will focus on underwriting and marketing strategy in the region.

Reinsurer capital fell 8% in Q1 to $645bn on the back of mark-to-market losses, as nat-cat capacity contracted materially for the first time since the 2004-2005 hurricane season.

The new hire joins from Axa XL, with a background at Hiscox.

Fontana investors will face a short lock-up period in the sidecar’s ramp-up phase, but thereafter there will be some “embedded liquidity.”

Negotiations were dragged out by decisions being referred for sign-off at senior levels.

Joe Murphy has left his senior underwriter post to join the Ryan Specialty Group-owned MGA.

The liability chief started her career with Endeavour in 2009.

Tom Graham joins from Apollo Syndicate Management, where he most recently held the position of US casualty underwriter.