Rates
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Transatlantic competition, rising valuations and price undercutting set a challenging scene.
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Retentions and coverage could be affected by future adverse claims trends.
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The Corporation is walking a tightrope between encouraging further growth whilst maintaining discipline.
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The executive said that adequate rates were encouraging insurers to grow.
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Attention is fixed on how competition will impact pricing in H2.
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Underwriters are pushing for rate rises, but competition is increasing.
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The broker said softening was emerging in some lines, but cat risks remain challenging.
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Falling rates in finpro and increased competition in property drove the trend.
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The ratings agency also affirmed the reinsurer’s A- FSR rating.
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Property rate increases decelerated to 6% in Q4, compared to slowdowns of 7% in Q3 and 10% in Q2 2023.
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Sources said that the market was not sufficiently profitable to concede ground on pricing.
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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.
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European rates on line increased by 7.60%, while in the US prices were up 5.25%.
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The broker’s report also hailed the best risk-adjusted margins for ILS investors in a decade.
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The broker said over-placement on some deals was a positive sign for brokers, though reinsurance capacity is still very tight in some areas.
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Reinsurers are making some adjustments to secure target signings but appetite to grow is finely balanced.
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Sources said that there was still rating adequacy in the market, but that further pricing falls would be unsustainable.
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Anticipations of a tug-of-war around a ‘flat to slightly up’ pricing renewal have indeed come to fruition.
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Profits are expected to widen thanks to improved rates and higher average attachment points.
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Delegates at our annual London Market Conference (LMC) described the market as “transforming” and “exciting”.
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The revision reflects Swiss Re's "strongly improved financial performance and better capitalisation and leverage”, the ratings agency said.
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Does one party – the carrier or the cedant – have to lose out for the other to succeed?
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London’s insurance market is booming in some ways yet still has multiple challenges to address.
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The ratings agency said the change reflected its expectation that the carrier would post improving underwriting results in the next two years.
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The mood at the association’s annual meeting is vastly more congenial this year, but challenges remain, particularly around long-tail lines.
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With US third-quarter reporting season being well underway, the results so far highlight further runway for the hard property E&S market.
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The revised status follows the recent announcement that R&Q Insurance Holdings has agreed a sale of its Accredited program.
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E+S Rück said that natural disasters and persistently high inflation have again "taken a toll" on the German insurance industry.
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Loss severity and prior-year development in US casualty dominated discussion at The Broadmoor.
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The Corporation used its latest market message to call out what it saw as an “underwhelming” approach from specialty insurers to changing conditions and “moronic” D&O underwriting.
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The paradox of “the best reinsurance market in years” is that there are still question marks over who wants a piece of it.
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The executive also recommitted Aon to its mission around creating net new markets – including growing IP – in the wake of the Vesttoo issues.
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Despite a successful upstreaming of cat risk to primary insurers, reinsurers still have multiple factors to worry about in the run-up to 1 January 2024.
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Key trends the credit agencies will be monitoring include inflation, redistribution of losses and the investment bounce-back.
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The ratings agency also affirmed Swiss Re’s ‘AA-’ rating, with the carrier expected to maintain an ‘AA-’ rating through 2024.
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Ongoing rate rises in property are expected to be offset by decreases in specialty lines and casualty.
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The hammering of hailstorm losses that US homeowners’ carriers reported for H1 will drive positive change in property markets.
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The broker said that rates were largely flat thanks to insurer appetite and competition.
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Loss-free accounts were generally up 20%-50% at renewal, the reinsurance broker said.
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A “little flurry” of new capacity helped the mid-year renewals as reinsurers pushed to deploy at the last chance for 2023.
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Reinsurers began relaxing limits on US property exclusions, but the lack of new start-ups points towards stability amid a more orderly market, the broker forecast.
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Despite reinsurers’ concerns over social inflation and loss trends, capacity remains abundant in both quota share and XoL deals, sources say.
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The broker said increased reinsurance costs had not been passed onto customers.
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The carrier is increasing underlying rates to counter increased reinsurance costs and inflation.
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The class is attracting increasing scrutiny from executives and within Lloyd’s, as a descent in pricing persists.
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The broker said clients could save money, increase limits and buy extra coverage.
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A report by the ratings agency shows cyber insurance pricing has risen by 11% in Q1.
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The deal is the third scale-up buyout for the firm, highlighting the ongoing value of scale in the reinsurance segment.
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Early private deals have provided far more stability in this year’s renewal than last.
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The broker’s UK CEO said the current rating environment is ‘eminently supportable’ for London carriers.
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Most carriers were keen to talk about how they are taking on the ongoing hard market in Q1, but some complexities partly offset their good news.
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Blenheim’s withdrawal from property treaty highlights questions around London’s role as a reinsurance centre of excellence.
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The executive said IGI is seeing similar trends in treaty rate renewals during the second quarter of the year.
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Softening cat bond rates are among the bearish signals for cat rates, but latent new demand and still-cautious supply should prolong reinsurer gains.
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The pace of rate hikes will ease back from the 1 January reset as buyers seek to lock up capacity early after last year’s dislocated renewal.
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Most lines continued to record price increases, with global rates being propelled largely by rising rates in property insurance.
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The broker said pricing reductions might decelerate throughout the year if carriers perceive increased risk.
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Primary insurance rate increases were 10% for property in Q1 compared to 7% in Q4.
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Mark Cloutier set out Aspen’s plans for top-line 2023 growth in the range of 10%, and a continued strategy of pursuing rate rather than exposure growth in property cat.
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Insurers have been hoping that higher interest rates would signal a new era, but not all commentators agree there has been a paradigm shift.
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Sources said they were seeing more verticalisation of placements in the energy market, particularly in the downstream segment.
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WTW said driver shortages continue to force contractors to use younger, often less experienced drivers, potentially putting upward pressure on losses.
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The outlook is based on a strong pricing environment and higher interest rates, but the ratings agency warns of changing climate trends, and social and economic inflation.
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Lloyd’s has drawn attention to an improved attritional loss ratio in 2022, warning the market that it would be “very difficult to get back” if it slips.
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The release of Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re and Scor’s year-end reports provides an update on market conditions.
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Intermediaries have highlighted the ‘evolution’ in reinsurance buying as hard market conditions are expected to continue.
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Hamilton Re said early signs point to 25%-30% rate rises on Japanese wind.
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The broker said that rates were falling but remained well above soft market levels.
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New supply is entering the market after a remediation phase, but waning demand for London capacity is set to create pressure on pricing.
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There has been no let-up in rate reductions so far this year, as fears mount about the profitability of the class.
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The market has quickly moved away from dramatic hardening in 2020 and 2021 following an influx of capacity.
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Evan Greenberg addressed questions about property cat reinsurance on a Q1 earnings call.
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This was the highest single-year increase for the US index since 2006.
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The executive noted that the quarter marked the 21st quarter of rate increases.
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Only D&O and workers’ compensation clients experienced price decreases during Q3, according to WTW.
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The broker said a dearth of IPOs had created a “buoyant environment”, with both start-ups and incumbents competing.
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The company will fund the raise from surpluses following bancassurance exits.
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Inflation and a full post-pandemic return to shipping are expected to impact future claims.
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The risk is increasing of some cedants ‘running naked’ in early January as the market faces a ‘horrendous bottleneck’ of negotiation ahead.
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While competition is picking up, a likely rise in claims during a recession is likely to prevent a return to a soft market.
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Rates began falling at the mid-year but loss activity has changed the mindset of underwriters.
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Rate rises were anticipated by brokers amid inflation and investment market volatility.
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The Corporate Risk and Broking head of global lines of business said staff and client attrition has been reversed – and cast doubt on predictions of further specialty market hardening.
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Real non-life premiums are forecast to grow by 1.8% in 2023 and 2.8% in 2024.
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The aviation market took what is believed to be its largest-ever loss recently and court actions over Ukraine claims are ongoing, all contributing to a hard war market as all-risk renewals remain softer.
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In Q3, 46% of primary policies renewing with the same limit and deductible received a price decrease, while 16% received a price increase, according to Aon.
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Cyber saw the biggest increase in the quarter, while financial and professional lines saw a slight reduction.
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Cedants may find past behaviour coming back to haunt them, while brokers should be preparing in depth to achieve simplicity.
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Winter storms in the first half of 2022 are expected to result in claims totalling EUR1.4bn.
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Reinsurers are demanding price increases and higher retentions as brokers warn cedants to be ‘realistic’.
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Reinsurers and brokers alike have warned of a rocky 1.1 renewal process ahead as the industry grapples with multiple issues including inflation, climate change and geopolitical uncertainty.
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Marsh CEO Martin South added that the broker expected to see property rates easing, but "the reverse is going to be true."
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The reinsurer is working to find the right inflation indicators for individual client portfolios.
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Munich Re board member Thomas Blunck warned inflation will remain high in 2023, driving up loss costs.
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The move reflects the ratings agency’s downgrade of majority owner Fosun last week.
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Inflation will define priorities such as a focus on safeguarding clauses and pricing transparency, as well as line of business challenges, for underwriters and actuaries in the year ahead.
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Sources said that some entities were exhibiting “sheer desperation” to hit 2022 plans, driving down prices.
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In their messages at the Rendez-vous de Septembre, Munich Re, Hannover Re, Swiss Re and Scor signalled a ripe environment to hike prices and adjust terms.
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The ratings agency predicts a combined ratio of 95.2% for the companies on its watch this year.
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The broker said some reinsurers were planning for significant growth in property catastrophe as demand is expected to pick up pace.
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A report warns that recent rate increases may not be enough to protect against headwinds.
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A Moody’s survey of reinsurance cedants found most are expecting cat rate increases to remain in a high-single-to-low-double-digit bandwidth.
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Growing competition for UK property business kept price increases in check during the quarter.
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The carrier's president said in some areas of the market, (re)insurers are dropping pricing too soon.
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Business placed in the region had shown the sharpest increases, but is also recording the fastest deceleration.
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The broker said the conditions were the most attractive since hardening began in 2018.
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The market has recently been stung by several large anticipated claims, with cat season looming.
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Joe Petrelli said Demotech would continue to follow its independent methodology, despite outside pressure.
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In a post-results media call, Beazley CEO Adrian Cox also noted that an expected increase in cyber claims had not yet “manifested”.
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The forecast for real-term premium growth was depressed by anticipated claims inflation.
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Claims inflation and the risk of a major marine war loss crystalising in March 2023 is looming over an otherwise buoyant marine market.
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Plus, an in-depth look a pressure on the FCA and PRA and all the top news from the week.
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Sources described Australia as ‘the new Florida’ while US rates are also on the rise.
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Sources in the market estimated the average risk-adjusted rate increase at the 1 June renewal at around 5%, with a similar trajectory expected for 1 July accounts.
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The ratings agency said the run-off sector is set to remain highly competitive over the coming years.
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A reduction in incidents linked to better resilience and the Ukraine war may temper cyber price increases, the broker said.
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The agency affirmed the carrier’s Insurer Financial Strength rating at AA-.
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The broker said the war in Ukraine and loss cost inflation were adding pressure to an already challenging market.
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The impact of the war in Ukraine has led to a drop-off in IPO activity, which many carriers were relying on for growth.
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On an investor call for the broker’s Q1 results, Marsh McLennan COO John Doyle indicated overall pricing trends for Q1 ahead of the full index.
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Aon’s E&O and Cyber Market Review found that between Q1 2019 and Q4 2021, ransomware attacks surged 323%.
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WTW forecasts that cyber rates could increase by 100% to 200% for heavily exposed industries.
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The ratings agency warned that the fallout from the conflict in Ukraine could also have an indirect economic impact.
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The action follows the news that Brickell PC Insurance Holdings would acquire the remaining shares in R&Q for £482mn ($632.4mn).
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Cat de-risking and asset revaluations have also been key features of this renewal.
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Inflation is now a key concern in every line of business, the broker said.
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There is a tension between securing payback and negotiating higher retentions.
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Wind excess-of-loss treaties renew with gains between 2% and 5% in “underwhelming” renewal.
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Sources have also said capacity is reaching its limit as the appetite to large credit and political risk polices decreases.
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The $500mn of new demand from Allstate highlights carrier need for cover after Ida, but pulling together cat capacity in the peak US market remains a tougher ask.
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The firm adjusted 2022 projected revenues for the acquired Willis Re book down by $10mn from its 2020 figures due to forex and Ukraine changes.
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The broker has reported successive slowdowns since price increases climbed to a peak in Q1 2020.
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The carrier expanded premium by 8.3% at the January renewal.
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Cyber rates continue to spike globally, along with financial and professional lines, Marsh data shows.
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There is a nervousness among both brokers and underwriters around what compounding rate rise may mean for appetite for the product.
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For the SPAC market, sources said that prices should continue to harden, while D&O rates are expected to stabilize amid a capacity flush.
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Sources said there was still uncertainty over whether the 2021 underwriting year would turn a profit.
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New markets have reset the balance between supply and demand in the market.
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Inflationary pressure and climate change meant the market effectively gave ground to cedants despite nominal price rises.
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The broker said that the there was an increased differentiation in pricing compared to 2021.
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Rates are up modestly across the board but reinsurers are "under pressure" to improve profitability.
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The prospect of higher reinsurance costs, an inflationary environment and concerns over cat pricing are fuelling the underwriter argument for more rate in 2022.
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Reinsurers anticipate lower increases than last year but maintain pressure for rate in inflationary environment.
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The market was divided about the outlook for 2022, with some predicting a substantial reduction in rates.
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The pricing outlook is murky with few FoTs in the market, but payback for Bernd is certain.
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Primary rates move before reinsurance, cedes fall in a hard market and cat is subsidised by casualty.
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A new market survey sheds light on the disparity in pricing and approaches to ransomware as the cyber market remediates.
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The Hannover Re subsidiary said the event would incur insured losses in Germany alone of “well in excess” of EUR8bn.
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While much of the conversation surrounding inflation lately has focussed on the threats, last week’s Inside P&C North America conference brought the other side of the coin back into focus.
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Increasing cat losses, combined with social inflation, put ESG and climate change at top of the mind even as the market sees strong growth, says Guy Carpenter’s John Trace.
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The broker expects a slowdown in price rises to continue for the rest of the year.
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The state body supporting earthquake cover has seen risk transfer requirements swell over the past decade.
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“When you deploy property aggregate, the return you need on that is meaningful in light of the risk that you’re assuming,” Zaffino said Thursday. “I’m not sure if a plus mid-single digit [rate increase] gets you there in light of the [loss activity] we’re looking at.”
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The Convex CEO said that the reinsurance market was yet to accept the true scale of its Covid-19 exposure.
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This current hard cycle in cyber is potentially a once-in-a-generation opportunity to engineer the product as fit for purpose.
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Reinsurance market tightening and loss ratio deterioration are two factors fueling momentum in cyber rates.
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Moody’s expects RMS, which had about $320mn in revenue around $55mn in operating income last year, to become accretive to earnings by 2025.
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The underwriting profits within the carrier’s US operations narrowed to $25mn, after higher economic activity and attritional claims caused margins to tighten.
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Adjusted for large renewals and IPOs, the pricing index rose 7.7% in the second quarter.
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RenRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell said cyber reinsurance rates were two fifths higher in Q2 than during the same period last year.
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Underwriters warned of a need to sustain profits and the risk of losses as plants are reactivated.
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The broker said there were signs the downstream market was “topping out” after several years of major hardening.
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International insurance broker Howden said rising ransomware losses represented a “digital pandemic” that have helped to drive average global cyber insurance rates up 32% year-on-year.
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Reinsurance rate increases are tapering off, but the recent influx of capacity will not cause pricing to “fall off a cliff” thanks to continuing market discipline, according to Willis Re’s James Vickers.
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Carriers also reported premium expansion and improved solvency during the quarter.
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The London market has seen a marked slowdown in specialty insurance rates year-on-year, in the latest evidence that the recent upswing in rates is starting to lose steam after three years of acceleration.
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The level of price increases was lower than the 10% rise reported in the fourth quarter of 2020.
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The Indian state-backed reinsurer has taken action to improve underwriting performance.
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The intermediary also warned that inflation headwinds could affect the future cost of claims.
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Reinsurers are clamouring for proportional business, while maintaining excess-of-loss rate rises at 1 January levels.
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Double-digit rate rises are still expected in the class, but not at the same scale as seen in 2020.
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The start-up carrier still plans to write more excess-of-loss business overall.
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Pockets of the distressed Florida market are still expected to face a challenging renewal, but much of the remediation was carried out last year.
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Rate increases are tailing off, but the carriers’ reports reveal divergent growth strategies.
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Hiscox’s London market rate rises decelerated from 20% in 2020 to 13% in Q1.
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Sources said pandemic rate inflation and increases in exposure could lead to rates tapering off after years of increases.
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Underwriters voiced a cautious optimism about the outlook for 2020, but warned that the class was moving from a low point.
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The French carrier grew its top line by 14.3% at the April renewals.
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The broker’s latest report points to big opportunities in cyber re and retro.
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Losses for 2020 were below average and capacity is stable, but the pandemic is likely to complicate deals.
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Offshore construction business can attract rates of up to 75%, compared with 5% rises in exploration and production.
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The executive says the carrier made strides last year in its underwriting and is well positioned for growth.
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The Dell warehouse loss pushed the Lloyd’s cargo market to a 179% loss ratio in Q2 2020, the broker says.
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The Aon president said insureds will begin to “test” carriers and brokers on price.
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Capacity has stabilised after several exits, and there are “shoots of recovery” in performance, but disagreement remains around rate adequacy.
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Firm order terms reveal an expectation from cedants of price increases between 5% and 10% on flood covers, in line with pricing momentum from 1.1.
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Rate rises on wind covers are broadly in the 5%-10% range, running somewhat ahead of quake increases.
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Earlier clean aviation renewals had ~50% increases, and those with exposure to the $2bn loss paid much larger increases.
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Despite hardening rates, insurers are “very polarised” about entering the class, CEO Laurent Lemaire says.
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The ratings agency said Zurich Insurance’s financial performance was “sustainably improved” and gave the rating a stable outlook.
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The MGA CEO says deductibles in North America need to rise as much as five-fold given an increase in claims frequency and severity.
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The ratings agency highlighted concerns about the remedial efforts facing the carrier.
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The need to secure rate increases will be countered by the financial pressures faced by policyholders.
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The four major developments of the week include:
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The cargo market is anticipating average 15% rate rises in 2021, compared with 20% last year.
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CEO Richard Harries and active underwriter Toby Drysdale outline the carrier’s ambitions as it leans into the pricing cycle.
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The broker sees the new capacity in the wider insurance sector as unlikely to enter the hull market.
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The P&I club says it increased its market share across all other lines, including hull and energy.
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The sector is trying to secure better underwriting terms amid a financially challenging period for shipowners.
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Market sources said that ongoing economic disruption is likely to keep pricing in the market high.
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The majority of London underwriters said they expected rates across their cyber book would be up 30% for the year.
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The CEO said his company would be going on offense to accelerate book value growth while strong market conditions lasted.
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Event definitions were also tightened at renewals, the broker said.
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The two European carriers are bullish after achieving the best overall rate increases since 2018 at 1 January.
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The carrier predicts Covid’s reinsurance impact will drive market hardening.
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The reinsurer was chasing a high 15% net return target and said lower demand and capital trapping made this unachievable.
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CEO Manning Rountree says its new Lloyd’s investment “hit the ground running” at the renewals.
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Citi, Jefferies and Berenberg laud the carrier’s steep rate increases in specialty lines.
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The carrier maintains its 2021 profit forecast amid 8.5% 1 January premium growth.
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Further Covid losses, core loss ratio improvements, reserving and the duration of the cycle are key themes emerging from the reporting season.
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The CEO said there is still some way to go on pricing as he revealed $2.4bn premium expectations for the group in 2021.
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The intermediary cited Convex and Vantage among new entrants adding capacity to the market at the renewal.
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The CEO says her carrier will be targeting “thoughtful growth” in specialty insurance and reinsurance.
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Pandemic recoveries are expected to tail off as cat aggregates are exhausted, while pricing trends are positive.
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Property insurance rates are rising by high single digits to 15% on clean accounts.
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Carriers sought rate hikes of between 12.5% and 15% in the final quarter of the year.
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Losses are “within expected tolerance levels”.
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The AJ Gallagher report says multiple potential claims could take current loss levels well above the $330mn already known about.
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But analysts added that slowing rate momentum suggested the hard market could end this year.
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The flood insurer cut just under $200mn of limit from its renewal, enabling it to pare back its outlay, although nominal programme-wide rates rose 13%.
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Second- and third-event retentions rise from the year-ago arrangement.
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The broking group said this correction will be more similar to 2005, rather than 2001.
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New capacity did not have a major influence on the outcome, but greater rated paper interest and a drop-off in demand kept rate increases more manageable than feared.
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The broker’s 1st View report said rate change may have disappointed some reinsurers but remediation focused on specific stressed pockets of business.
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Loss-free accounts are repricing by high single digits but the real battle is over terms.
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US cat renewals are outpacing European increases, but as signalled earlier this month, the level of rate hikes has fallen back.
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The coronavirus pandemic prompted huge change in a sector already dealing with systemic challenges.
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The majority of the $3.1bn reinsurance tower switched to a two-year deal last year.
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The Boeing loss deterioration to $2bn had prompted a burst of rate acceleration to 30% rises in November, although this was described as “short-lived”.
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Occurrence retro rates are among the segments where rate pressure is abating, although the outlook remains somewhat opaque in a late renewal.
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Rates for listed companies continue to rise between 200%-400% amid hard market conditions.
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But getting loss ratios under control will require more than just pushing prices higher.
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The reinsurer was placed under review in March amid turmoil in its management.
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Cedants and reinsurers perform a "slow dance" around pandemic losses, with claims negotiations deferred beyond renewal.
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Reinsurance is significantly up for aviation insurers due to Boeing loss deterioration.
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A range of sources in the reinsurance market said cedants needed a stark reassessment of primary rates.
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Disagreement over cyber wordings in named-perils cover joins the list of issues creating friction ahead of 1.1.
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The club reported a combined ratio of 102.2% for the first half of 2020, and an underwriting deficit of $2.2mn.
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Scor sought higher-priced agg cover, but Munich Re achieved below-average uplift on its occurrence treaty.
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The ratings agency cites the “significant support” provided by parent Axa as well as divisional restructuring moves.
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The CEO predicts that the carrier's own expansion will be among the fastest of any year since the early 2000s.
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The polarisation of views on Covid losses is so wide, and the sums at stake so large, that it is inevitable some reinsurance claims will end up in arbitration processes.
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The mooted changes would impact entrepreneurs and private equity business models.
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The Hammerfest loss is thought to be ~$500mn and well spread around the market.
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The German carrier says P&C gross written premiums expanded 3% to $27.3bn in the period.
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Rates surge as much as 300% on distressed risks as underwriters seek to rebuild profitability.
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London Market Life panellists say underwriting remediation and modernisation efforts must continue.
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The 1 January renewal will be a battle for the biggest slice of post-Covid upside.
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Headline growth is the highest since the broker’s index began, amid price increases in every region for eighth consecutive quarter.
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The CEO reports “forward momentum” after recording strong rate and GWP growth.
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The broker reports a hardening in all major US lines but high levels of uncertainty.
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This is just 26% of theoretical capacity of $3bn and has led to major clients self-insuring parts of their programmes, according to Willis.
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Carriers are imposing 7.5%-10% rate rises on accounts with less than $1mn premium, the broker finds.
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The reinsurers point to falling interest rates and loss experience as the basis for further hardening.
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Lower capacity will have an effect, but the company hopes to avoid severe retro rate rises.
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Rate movement is positive and sustained, but has been overshadowed by a string of major losses.
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The CEO said future uncertainty and the “enormity” of corporate debt posed a significant challenge for the insurance sector.
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The broker said that club members had suffered in both a business and personal sense during the pandemic.
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Underwriters are adjusting underlying exposures to push for rate while keeping premium increases modest for cash.
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A memo circulated to brokers indicates the extent of the hardening underway in the London D&O market.
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While brokers surveyed estimated rate rises of 5% to 10% over the last 12 months, underwriters’ estimates ranged from flat to up 30%.
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The executive says he is optimistic about the prospects for Bermuda.
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The Peter Scales-led vehicle is reunited with the private equity house.
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All the pieces were in place for real rate improvement, according to Steve Arora, CEO at Axis Re.
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Who is raising it, how much it will cost, and how best to use it – a round-up of the key points from the second day of (Re)Connect virtual conference.
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The debate over how far Covid losses will escalate is not the only key to January renewal dynamics.
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We round up the biggest themes from our five-day virtual conference, which welcomed 2,600 delegates this week.
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In a (Re)Connect discussion, panellists said outcomes varied significantly by line and territory but capacity supply was more constrained heading into 1 January.
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Insurance Insider wraps up some of the key themes from Day 1 of the (Re)Connect conference.
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The outlook changed following the recapitalisation deal announced in June but new information has been provided to the regulator.
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The reinsurer’s CEO predicts two “very good years” as the rate environment improves.
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The Hannover Re CEO forecast that rate momentum will grow from levels set in mid-year 2020.
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The reinsurer says US property catastrophe rates are now “satisfactory”, with more upward pressure to come.
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Covid losses, lower premiums and low interest rates may impact performance in 2020 and 2021, the agency warned.
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Smaller reinsurers and Lloyd's carriers will be more impacted than global top-tier firms, the broker forecast.
-
With the market scattered and a high degree of uncertainty around 1.1, rhetoric and narrative building may matter more.
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The carrier reports lower-than-expected life claims linked to the pandemic.
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The broker’s Clips survey also recorded a significant acceleration in property prices.
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Covid-19 losses and other catastrophe events have exhausted the catastrophe budgets of many companies, the ratings agency said.
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Underwriting margins need to improve by as much as 7-12 percentage points to compensate for lower interest rates, the carrier states.
-
The carrier will be actively targeting excess lines on US-listed placements, where capacity has been shrinking.
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The ratings agency predicts further syndicate closures as Lloyd’s “loses patience”.
-
Reduced passenger numbers have dented airline revenue, with some suggesting the imposition of minimum premiums.
-
First-half executive commentary also reveals Hannover Re is allocating capital for growth as Scor continues portfolio review.
-
Prices rise in every region for the seventh consecutive quarter, with the UK easily outstripping US growth.
-
The carrier’s top team says price increases are now spilling over into loss-free lines and regions.
-
Reinsurance, crisis management and art and specie are areas of opportunity, according to the Axa XL chief.
-
Meanwhile, US GL underwriters fear the impact of Covid-19 litigation.
-
The CFO said that the unit was focused on building a profitable book and that growth would come later.
-
Jean-Paul Conoscente says Scor’s capital strength and flexibility put it in a good position to take advantage of further rate rises and increased M&A activity next year. Rachel Dalton reports.
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Hiscox’s 90% projected CoR should prompt further thought at Lloyd’s on moving to a growth paradigm.
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Over-capacity is still stifling rate increases despite rising claims experience.
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The outgoing CUO emphasises large pro-rata book and interest rate impact.
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Commentary from Beazley and Lancashire also flags challenges on volumes, interest rates and recessionary claims.
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The incoming CEO plans growth in retro, cat and property per risk as pricing improves.
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The utility spent 13% more to secure its insurance but cut back third-party cover to $870mn.
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The exit of Aspen and Liberty along with a “challenging claims environment” has put pressure on the class.
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The French reinsurer guides away from an equity raise as it predicts further rate hardening.
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After losing its A- status, GIC Re faces the potential for lost business and a hard road to recovery.
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Cat programmes have been completed this year, but a heavy hurricane season could shake up the market, the broker said.
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A trend of capacity withdrawals from the accident and health market preceding the Covid-19 outbreak has been compounded by a growing pushback on pricing and terms and conditions following the pandemic.
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Insurers’ ambitions cannot be sustained in a prolonged soft rating environment, the broker says.
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A spell of damaging losses has led to sustained positive rate movement in the sector.
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The number of risks bound on the platform rises 43 percent from the end of the first quarter.
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Unofficial industry watchdog AM Best has made some high-profile interventions over the last few months, culminating in its downgrade late last week of Indian State-owned reinsurance company GIC Re.
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But concerns remain over the aggregation of cruise liner risks as hurricane season looms.
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Wirecard collapse threatens huge loss; Apollo and Argo deals revealed; inside the AGCS turnaround.
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Rate increases should continue but may be increasingly fragmented by January 2021.
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Reduced exposures take the vertical limit on carrier’s cat programme down to A$6.5bn from A$7.2bn.
-
Reinsurers demand exclusions and rate rises in all classes amid pandemic uncertainty.
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Hardening in the financial lines market has been exacerbated by fears over Covid-19.
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The equity research firm names Beazley as most exposed to the price growth within casualty because of its US hospitals business.
-
Underwriters point to gentle rate increases at mid-year but expect dramatic turn at 1 January.
-
The broker foresees price increases into 2022 and beyond.
-
The early renewal approach has been met with opposition from Lloyd’s reinsurers.
-
The prospect of a fourth consecutive year of underwriting losses and Covid-19 uncertainty has spurred additional rate momentum since January.
-
Economic uncertainty has impacted pricing, but deal activity continues to progress, says NFP’s Carl Nelson.
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The spectre of wholesale trapping of capital ahead of 1 January is further dislocating the market.
-
Deals got home but with modified structures and steep rate hikes.
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The Florida-based insurer’s spend rose by 17 percent to $262mn.
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The carrier retained more risk in the first layer of its programme.
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Property catastrophe reinsurance rates rose by 26 percent at the 1 June renewals, according to the London broker.
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Underwriters were unable to push through rate rises of more than 5 percent at 1.6 as the oil price crash impacted available spend
-
Rates are up 20% at a minimum, with T&Cs tightening and deals restructured to suit subscription players.
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Aggregate market pricing could now be up 30 percent, with distressed clients forced to pay considerably more.
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Umbrella covers and commercial property "hardening at fastest pace since 9/11”.
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The use of exclusions could leave the personal assets of directors at risk in the event of legal action.
-
The impact of the pandemic on the mortgage insurance market has been muted thus far.
-
The agency affirms the entity's ratings after the collapse of its deal to buy PartnerRe.
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The ratings agency is reviewing the impact of Floridian insurers’ reinsurance buying at 1 June.
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The Californian insurer said rising reinsurance costs were digestible.
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There are “massive concentrations of risk”, one panellist at Insider US warned.
-
John Howard says an earlier estimate indicates carriers are under-reserved in casualty by about $100bn.
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He noted that D&O, E&S and event cancellation are areas that could be particularly impacted.
-
Average price growth accelerated to the fastest pace since the recovery began at the end of 2017.
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The four continental European reinsurers expect Covid-19 to accelerate price momentum despite divergent approaches at 1.4.
-
Global pricing for financial business risks rose by 26 percent in the quarter, according to the broker’s survey.
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There is concern that Covid-19 could cause political instability in stressed areas and lead to losses.
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CEO John Forney says the renewal will be done with manageable price increases.
-
Reinsurers lift price expectations while cedants come to market ready to make concessions.
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The Floridian insurer said previous reinsurance rates were not sustainable for its partners.
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Businesses expected to suffer disproportionately in the post-coronavirus economy are seeing rises of up to 400 percent.
-
AIG “remains in a strong financial position” despite the pandemic, the executive said.
-
The CEO says the carrier is committed to winning back its A+ Superior rating.
-
The ratings agency says the revision reflects a deterioration in the (re)insurer’s operating performance.
-
The carrier continues to cut premium as part of remedial efforts.
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CFO Dacey expects increased demand and firming pricing in wake of pandemic.
-
The UK and Ireland chief expects the pandemic to erode capacity and drive claims and operating costs higher.
-
The carrier achieves 5.4 percent growth in Japan as it moves up programme layers.
-
Rates have risen by more than 20 percent, and will be impacted by Covid-19 and the oil price war.
-
The ratings agency estimates end-March ratios at between 190 and 200 percent.
-
Dynamics that would typically lead to rate rises are set to collide headlong with clients’ reduced ability to pay.
-
The ratings agency said uncertainty around Covid-19 threatened underwriting performance and earnings.
-
As the Covid-19 crisis continues to deepen, this week signs of strain became increasingly evident in certain lines of business.
-
The agency said global carriers are well capitalised and that it expects policy exclusions to hold up.
-
In its Plane Talking report the broker said insurers are still focused on long-term rate adequacy.
-
Some programmes also renewed with Covid-19 exclusions.
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The new bind feature enables markets to complete and bind Aon's treaty reinsurance placements without face-to-face meetings.
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Covid-19 could provide a tailwind in a pivotal year for Lloyd’s future profitability.
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The disruption to working conditions has given underwriters an effective extra rate rise.
-
Reduced premium levels and higher rates could be squared through increased retentions and co-insurance.
-
Despite major increases reinsurers seem underwhelmed by the scale of the re-rating.
-
The pace of growth tripled year on year to 6 percent.
-
Disparate attitudes between European reinsurers could temper aggressive rate increases at the key 1 April renewal.
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The embattled majority owner of Sirius blocked a planned rights issuance last week.
-
The CUO says 10-20 percent rate expansion would be insufficient.
-
The Florida carrier makes no reserve strengthening in the final quarter after responding to Irma loss creep in the July to September period.
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Claims inflation may outstrip rate growth, Allianz suggests.
-
The move follows the exit of Munich Re as the homeowners’ managing general agency’s treaty reinsurer last year.
-
CEO Pat Regan said he was confident that rate increases were outstripping claims inflation.
-
The Canadian carrier's insurance units are looking to take advantage of a favourable rate environment.
-
The chairman and CEO said his firm has seen opportunities to deploy capital in multiple lines.
-
Pre-adverse development cover, the carrier saw impact from directors’ and officers’ and mergers and acquisitions-related business.
-
The carrier cut gross limits for the class of business by $40bn during the quarter.
-
Reinsurers have been keen to paint a picture of gains on the horizon in their analyst calls after their January renewals reports.
-
The carrier is seeing increasing submission levels and “much improved pricing” in facultative reinsurance.
-
The executive told analysts that reinsurance rates are starting to climb in certain areas, offering opportunities.
-
A modest 2.9 percent increase in casualty was driven by excess liability and auto.
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The carrier’s specialty division recorded a 14 percent rate increase at 1 January.
-
RBC and Jefferies cut growth expectations after carrier reveals cat losses and reinsurance premium reduction.
-
No early indication that reinsurance pricing is catching up with insurance rate acceleration.
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The P&I club called a general increase in October in response to losses.
-
Kevin O’Donnell said that several domestic insurers in Florida are now close to exhausting their 2017 private market treaties.
-
The new funds raised at 1 January are dedicated to its retro-focused Upsilon fund and its Medici cat bond strategy.
-
The executive says retention and new business wins drive growth.
-
When looking at rate trends for large directors’ and officers’ (D&O) accounts, one could call the situation a tale of two markets.
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WR Berkley has witnessed a surge in E&S submissions even as rates creep upward.
-
The insurer reported underwriting profits of $114.7mn in Q4, up 71.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.
-
California recorded a 34.1 percent jump in excess and surplus premiums written compared with the previous year.
-
J Powell Brown said engineered property and umbrella policies were proving harder to place.
-
Modest acceleration in January brings underwriter hopes of further momentum mid-year.
-
CEO Mike Sapnar said losses in the last two years have wiped out premiums.
-
Excess rates continue to rise after several carriers early last year pulled back from the class.
-
The scaling back comes amid more stringent conditions for sideways covers.
-
Demotech’s actions expected to have only a minimal net impact on reinsurance demand.
-
The broker said that Boeing claims of up to $1.5bn had prompted rates to surge.
-
This publication looks at the 10 most prevalent industry trends for the year ahead.
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The cutbacks could have withdrawn close to $1.5bn of limit from the market.
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However, there's more to re-underwriting an excess book than price alone, Inside P&C analysts noted.
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The MGA’s CEO predicts a halt to significant capacity withdrawals.
-
Katy Bradica returns to the carrier after nine months as AIG’s chief actuary for North America, while Mary Latham joins from Beazley.
-
Demotech has cautioned that up to 18 of the 46 Floridians it rates are at risk of downgrade.
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Pricing had previously slipped back after spiking following attacks on vessels last May.
-
Pricing continued to rise at 1 January amid a capacity squeeze and social inflation.
-
The Japanese-owned carrier teams up with Hiscox to provide capacity to former chief equine underwriter David Ashby.
-
The NAIC has given authorisation for Chaucer to write the lines of business through its Irish subsidiary from 1 January.
-
Unmodelled cat losses are prompting a reassessment of pricing, the broker said.
-
The fundraising is slightly up on the $75mn raised on the sidecar’s debut.
-
Greenspan was more optimistic about Arch, switching her opinion to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’.
-
A striking feature of this year’s 1 January renewal has been the changing approach to aggregate retrocession covers.
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The equity research group says international P&C losses look likely to exceed earlier expectations.
-
The broker said a significant loss could trigger a drop in capacity, which is at an all-time high.
-
Rates increases of 25 percent and far higher are set to accelerate in the coming year.
-
A round-up of reinsurance renewals news plus the best of the rest from the past seven days.
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Accounts renewing at 1 January provide fresh optimism that property D&F rate improvement can continue through 2020.
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Broker says alternative capital retracted by 7% as investors exercise caution.
-
Broker’s 1.1 report notes uptick in rates for property cat and non-marine retro.
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Willis Re report shows reinsurers reacting to Boeing incidents and ILS lock-up.
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A shift towards rated paper and occurrence structures helped the market clear with some deals remaining outstanding.
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The Willis Re International chairman says some carriers consider primary rate increases inadequate.
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The broker highlights increasingly discerning reinsurers pushing for rate.
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Christmas brings out the child in everyone.
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The Californian specialty property insurer's scaled-up programme provides coverage of up to $1.2bn for earthquake events.
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The broader retro market is renewing up by 10-30 percent depending on loss experience and structure.
-
1 January renewal runs late as brinksmanship from cedants meets determination from reinsurers.
-
The structure of the programme remains relatively unchanged, with new private placements.
-
Yesterday we broke the news that Liberty Specialty Markets had pulled out of UK motor treaty, as signs gather that 1 January will reveal this to be a hard pocket of the market.
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Strong balance-sheet growth, marginal operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management were factors in the outlook.
-
Carrier seeks to mitigate regulatory risk around motor and is likely to cut US med-mal exposure.
-
Modest gains follow a broadly flat European cat treaty market for 1 January.
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Rates on North American property binders up between 10 and 25 percent depending on territory.
-
An ever-clearer picture is emerging of what winning and losing looks like in a hardening market.
-
The main disrupted segments are still aggregate retro and sidecar vehicles.
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The US casualty market looks to have a major reserving problem as claims inflation picks up.
-
Underwriters expect to book increases of 2.5 percent as capacity still abounds in the sector.
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The industry association opts not to seek a judicial review over the UK government’s slender 0.5 point increase to the discount rate.
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Sources said airline premiums have increased by around 40 percent on average.
-
In the first half of this decade, a new breed of eye-catchingly large facilities such as Aon and Berkshire Hathaway’s “sidecar” and Willis’ 360 were dominating headlines.
-
The ratings agency predicts third-party capital providers will “hold the line” on return expectations after heavy losses.
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Buyers look to alternative risk transfer options as stressed market conditions continue.
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Data from the Q3 CIAB pricing survey provides solid evidence the market today is well beyond anything seen since the turn of the decade.
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The reinsurance market is something of a conundrum as we begin the run-in to 1 January.
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The move follows similar action by other clubs as the sector looks to generate underwriting profits.
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At the end of this week, my daughter will turn 20.
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Cat bonds sponsored by the California Earthquake Authority and the Philippines government both achieved their target size while pricing in the upper range of coupon guidance.
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Loss deterioration, interest rates and capacity reduction lend weight to reinsurers’ case for rate rises.
-
There was a lot to unpack in Swiss Re’s investor day update, which focused on its plans to continue recapturing market share in the natural catastrophe business.
-
Umbrella and commercial auto price growth nears double digits.
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The mutual said the rise was necessary to ensure financial stability amid rising claims.
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Low interest rates and macroeconomic uncertainty threaten profitability and solvency ratios.
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One of the best indicators of risk is how much growth was written in problematic lines during the soft market years.
-
“Trapital” is once again throwing out renewal schedules in the ILS market after recent typhoon losses have complicated the run-up to 1 January.
-
The broker expects public company D&O and cat-exposed property risks to receive high double-digit rate increases.
-
Casualty rates and T&Cs should improve for 24-36 months, the executive said.
-
D&O rates are expected to increase generally 25 to 50 percent over Q4, although rates for some “troubled” accounts may double.
-
Casualty pricing ekes out a 0.8 percent gain, while financial and professional liability rises more than 14 percent.
-
The carrier pegs recent nat cat exposure at less than half Hiscox’s reserves estimate for the event, while rate growth quickens.
-
Speaking on an analyst call CFO Christoph Jurecka said that the reinsurer had been revising its US casualty books since 2017.
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The sector will see a slight dip in capital at the upcoming renewals, but growth prospects are strong, panellists at an S&P conference predict.
-
“The hard market is coming!” one cyber underwriter enthused to me last week.
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After years of cheap capacity and widening terms, complex accounts renewing in recent weeks have attracted low double-digit rate hikes.
-
A more litigious environment in the country has pushed up claims frequency and severity.
-
CEO and his soon-to-be replacement believe current market conditions play into the growing company’s hands.
-
Brown told analysts on an earnings call Tuesday that an anticipated influx of fresh capital would have a moderating effect on rate rises.
-
Rates are technically weak, but growth mindset and regional capacity will check pricing.
-
The AJG CEO once again dismisses suggestions the market is "hard".
-
The Standard Club and Steamship Mutual move in tandem for 2020.
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The P&I club said the current rating is not sufficient to cover heightened claims activity.
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Improvements in pricing are not enough to match the spike in loss costs.
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The reinsurance market "can and will get better" after recent disappointments.
-
Reinsurers look set to largely ride on the coat-tails of insurers on rate rises, with ceding commissions relatively steady.
-
Rate rises continue to accelerate, with business insurance rate growth up from 3.6% to 4.3%.
-
Sister title Inside P&C gives an early view on the results commentary for Q3 earnings, which points to further acceleration.
-
The Scor Global P&C deputy CEO said the firm would deploy more capital into specialty insurance.
-
Neoguri and the stronger Bualoi look set to pass to the east of Japan.
-
There is little expectation that reinsurers will be able to push European cat pricing at 1.1.
-
The ratings agency says recent cat events could breach the carriers’ loss budgets.
-
The end is in sight. After six weeks of back-to-back-to-back-to-back conferences, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
-
Rates and deductibles are increasing and wordings are under scrutiny as market reacts to losses.
-
Typhoon Hagibis looks bad, although whether it is bad enough remains to be seen.
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The software will be used to help set global data standards for the industry.
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The book is currently being overseen by CUO Richard Coulson, but sources expect a team to be recruited.
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One of my major take-aways from last week’s Wholesale and Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) conference in San Diego was that there is a sense Lloyd’s has missed an opportunity in the US.
-
The non-admitted market is expected to harden further.
-
Further rate rises “aren’t just a nice to have”, Markel’s co-CEO said on Thursday.
-
Few market participants would argue against the statement that commercial (re)insurance in many of the major established markets is in a state of flux at present.
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The Insurance Insider gives you a run-down of everything you need to know from the reinsurance conference.
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The level of restructuring of coverage in the quarter and the breakdown of price increases by month point to a change in risk appetite.
-
CEO Joe England blames “difficult market conditions” for the decision.
-
Delegates say pricing momentum must continue to support a more sustainable market.
-
The report suggests a continuation of upward D&O pricing momentum recorded in the first quarter.
-
US commercial insurance pricing increased by 4 percent in the second quarter, according to the broker.
-
The reinsurer also reiterates optimism about the 1.1 renewals.
-
The CEO said in three years the third-party capital platform could support risk from across the parent group.
-
The Insurance Insider takes a look at reinsurance market dynamics after “near-miss” Dorian.
-
2019 returns have recovered but until underlying conditions change more, new capital is not expected to flow in.
-
However, analysts said there was more capital waiting on the sidelines to enter the turning market.
-
The ratings agency said over-capacity could snuff out recent pricing momentum.
-
Despite shrinkage of the overall pool, new capital providers have entered the market in recent months, the ratings agency said.
-
The action reflects Mexico’s foreign currency sovereign rating.
-
Far from making interest rates great again, rates have returned to levels likely to make investment income grate on returns again.
-
Derivative actions and social inflation have created a significant uptick in claims activity.
-
The CIAB methodology makes the survey headline numbers less interesting than they might appear.
-
A state report said non-renewals were down 10 percent in some high-risk areas.
-
New data from CIAB shows commercial property saw rates rise by 8.5 percent in 2019’s second quarter owing to wildfires and midwestern losses.
-
London sources reported positive pricing movement, but cautioned international markets pose a threat.
-
Is there anything more primal and satisfying than growing your own food?
-
One of the long-term, fundamental questions in reinsurance has been the degree to which pricing in one region can affect another.
-
The 2017 and 2018 wildfires have led to double-digit rate rises, reduced capacity and a more cautious attitude from reinsurers.
-
Swiss Re leads the charge on US exposure as reinsurers prepare for North American hurricane season.
-
In the hot summer of 1954, on the Cote d’Azur, Picasso created more than 60 portraits of his teen artist neighbour Sylvette David.
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The carrier meaningfully cut back gross limits while booking rate gains to improve the quality of its general insurance portfolio in Q2.
-
The carrier reported rate rises of 3 percent in H1, with rate growth in North America of almost 7 percent.
-
The CFO attributes the 0.5 percent risk-adjusted rate rise to the diversity and size of its portfolio.
-
The latest quarter was the second-lowest Q2 for issuance volume in the past eight years.
-
The club, which retains its BBB financial strength and issuer credit ratings, pledges to engage with the ratings agency to reverse the outlook change.
-
Following the pricing story told by the results season – not to mention recent source conversations – has at times produced whiplash.
-
The carrier will continue to write more long-tail business to manage down its cat exposure.
-
The reduction in rate rises permitted for the class of insurance follows a public pricing review.
-
Encouraging signs that the (re)insurance industry will continue to see rate rises, says Everest Re’s CEO.
-
Claims inflation looks set to squeeze reserve releases and offset the impact of rate rises.
-
The company warns of IT hiccups within Hiscox Retail and lower reserve releases in the second half.
-
The firm’s executives echo fellow brokers in questioning suggestions of significant market firming.
-
There’s a really simple reason us Brits are famous for talking about the weather so much.
-
The CEO said that cutting back during the soft cycle had left the carrier in “great shape”.
-
Global P&C chief Conoscente notes the carrier “very positive” on casualty.
-
The insurer saw high growth in marine, property and its Lloyd’s business Cathedral.
-
The Chubb chairman and CEO says a broad acceleration of rate growth is sustainable.
-
The Beazley results released yesterday represent the broader market picture in microcosm, and most of the key themes of earnings season were legible there.
-
The specialty insurer reported earnings of $0.82 per share, beating analysts’ consensus of $0.64 per share.
-
J Powell Brown said E&S in the London market was the most pronounced pocket of price expansion.
-
The company’s Q2 report also noted higher loss costs in commercial auto and general liability.
-
AuM as measured by Trading Risk was almost flat at $103bn, up fractionally on 1 January.
-
It’s clear that pricing is improving. But how widespread is the pain that’s driving it? (It’s not just AIG & Lloyd’s)
-
Insurers are looking to cover recent claims and prepare for potential losses.
-
CEO Horton says a "material change in sentiment" has pushed pricing up well above the carrier's earlier expectations.
-
The ending of a prolonged period of flux may entice new market entrants despite the disappointing size of the rate increase.
-
Earlier this week, The Insurance Insider reported that reinsurance market sentiment has “hit its highest level in years, with mounting confidence that gathering pricing momentum can be sustained beyond 2019”.
-
The broker will use proceeds for M&A.
-
The trade association criticised the justice secretary’s rationale for the smaller-than-forecast rise in the personal injury discount rate as flawed.
-
The carrier prices its stock at between $16 and $18 for the offer, and plans to sell up to a 23.9 percent stake.
-
Underwriters said rate rises of 20 percent plus were needed, with some pushing for hikes of as much as 70 percent.
-
They face a Herculean task but the two start-ups could break the stranglehold of MMC, Willis and AJG in the aviation market.
-
The overall reduction in payouts from the discount rate change could exceed $500mn, a UK government impact assessment has found.
-
Carriers and market bodies said the decision will pass costs onto policyholders
-
Moody's warns Direct Line and Admiral will face a one-off earnings hit.
-
Increased competition has made the class one of the few in EC3 that is not seeing a rating upswing.
-
Professional lines underwriter Lillies joins from Everest Re.
-
It’s unclear if lawyers will continue to exploit loopholes in the new AOB reform, the rating agency says in its Florida market report.
-
Reinsurance rates are rising, especially in Florida and retro, but primary market changes are still outstripping the significance of these improvements.
-
At the top of the Freedom Tower in New York last week, Lloyd’s chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown told those assembled that the market is “open for business”.
-
The board approved a 2.3 percent increase for homeowners’ multiperil cover.
-
Markets behave in brutal and slightly crazy ways that don’t always best serve the end consumer. They always undershoot on the downside and then overshoot on the upside – sometimes hugely and irrationally so.
-
Despite early hopes of sizeable rate rises, reinsurers are frustrated that many accounts will renew with as-before terms.
-
The withdrawal of US domestic capacity for big-ticket property risks continues to bear fruit for the London market.
-
There are a few people in Bermuda scratching their heads at some of the loss numbers being discussedI spent the early part of last week in Bermuda and, in between running for cover whenever it rained, my days saw me visiting contacts and hearing their thoughts on the current major market talking points.
-
The aggregate reported price change was over 2 percent.
-
It took “a lot of players” to fill the capacity gap left by AIG in E&S, the executive said.
-
The Florida carrier places $1.45bn of reinsurance limit with a lower average net rate on line for the coastal account placement.
-
Pricing in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany is facing the most upward pressure, the broker finds.
-
California-based insurer has expanded its reinsurance coverage during what was a fairly flat renewal for the carrier.
-
The company’s reinsurance spend as a proportion of earned premium rose to 33.3 percent – up 2 percentage points.
-
Majority of Florida firm order terms hit the market, but many participants think capacity shortfalls are likely at current price levels.
-
Citizens will be among the buyers to come late to market with its 2019 cat programme as reinsurers push hard for rate rises.
-
The organisation results results of a survey which showed an average rate increase of 3.5 percent.
-
The vast majority of business has still not been transacted owing to brinksmanship on both sides.
-
The Q1 pricing report provides further evidence that carriers are pushing for rate and attempting to manage exposures as loss-cost trends bite.
-
Insureds are resisting rate rises after another loss-free year for offshore wind risks.
-
After the KRW storms of 2005, I remember interviewing a top reinsurance broker and making the casual remark that the major spike in property cat pricing must be making his bosses very happy. I envisioned bulging brokerage accounts and big bonuses all round at year end.
-
The price growth momentum increased as the quarter progressed, the broker found.
-
Reinsurers recognize the need for more rate for the risk being ceded, O’Donnell said on the firm’s Q1 call.
-
How many times has the Lloyd’s market stood on the cusp of adopting some form of dynamic, modern risk trading platform only to lose its nerve?
-
Sector posts profit in 2018 but mounting concerns mean challenges are on the horizon.
-
Everest Re executives were relatively optimistic about P&C (re)insurance pricing.
-
Marine hull defies market correction as cargo, property D&F and aviation surge.
-
A firming rate environment and improved macro trends provided a dual tailwind in the quarter.
-
My first experience of the gravitational pull of AIG came in the tight market of 1993.
-
EC3 execs described low-to-mid single-digit increases on average, with aviation, property D&F and PI rates pushing higher.
-
“Distressed” D&O market pushes for correction as professional indemnity notches up double-digit rate increases.
-
Construction and downstream energy react to loss experience as upstream registers small increases.
-
Renewal pricing in each of the company’s specialty property casualty sub-segments exceeded expectations.
-
The Californian carrier is to revise programme after handing $216mn wildfire loss to reinsurers.
-
Executives are optimistic about the insurer’s ability to drive stronger returns given rate trends.
-
The reduced appetite in standard lines have led to a market firming in E&S lines, the executive said.
-
The broker’s Marketplace Realities report foresees property and marine rates rising as much as 15 percent, and energy lines jumping up to 20 percent.
-
Speaking during a conference call, WR Berkley CEO Rob Berkley described pricing momentum that was “gradually building”.
-
Initial guidance on the latest Residential Re transaction points to a spread well above comparable deals.
-
Both early reporting companies reported positive data points on rate and growth.
-
Commercial auto is still a market in turmoil, RLI president and COO Craig Kliethermes said.
-
Universal released pricing for its cat programme last week, and the Floridian cedant conceded a 30 percent rate rise with a view to getting the deal home.
-
The cedant suffered $500mn+ of Irma loss creep and looks likely to fare worse than the broader market.
-
One commonly held view in this market is that P&C company valuations are largely driven by the pricing cycle, and that positive and accelerating pricing should be considered a universal positive for the group.
-
There is no doubt that some serious work needs to be done to change the way flood insurance is charged by Fema.
-
Increases of up to 25 percent on loss-affected contracts were balanced by flat renewals for loss-free business, the reinsurance broker finds.
-
Aviation insurers are re-evaluating grounding cover following the downing of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet.
-
The ratings agency warns that Brexit, price competition and regulation will hold back profits.
-
The repositioning of AIG and FM Global has led to a 1 April renewals period where the balance of power is tipped in London’s favour.
-
The forecast compares with Raymond James' estimate of rate increases of up to 15 percent on loss-affected business.
-
High-single-digit to low-double-digit advance driven by big increases on wind and flat quake renewals.
-
Japanese mutual extends its open market cover to $15bn, with pricing flat year-on-year.
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The state-backed insurer is looking to refine its reinsurance programme but overall demand remains subdued after it has depopulated its portfolio.
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Underwriters are preparing for a major claim from Boeing and fear another loss-making year.
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Ahead of the 1 January renewals, the mood music on sidecar renewals sounded fraught: thrums of anxiety from brokers and querulous undercurrents from investors.
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One market representative is understood to have raised the issue with Lloyd’s performance management director Jon Hancock last week.
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The business discloses a 12.8 percent return for the 2016 year of account.
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CIAB said all lines except workers’ compensation, cyber and terrorism saw pricing increases.
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Discussions ahead of the midyear renewals are now beginning in earnest.
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The mutual now has a long-term credit rating and financial strength rating of BBB+.
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However, reinsurance programme structures are not expected to change much.
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Brokers are pushing for a 5-10 percent rate increase on standard renewals.
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Adverse development and a withdrawal of capacity are expected to lead to increased pricing for loss-affected Latin American accounts.
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A creeping sense of optimism stems from specialty lines
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Prices notched up by 2 percent in the period, the highest bump since 2012.
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The CEO says early remedial action put the carrier ahead of the curve.
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Transaction numbers declined marginally year on year.
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After Hurricane Maria, it became clear that some insurers did not have sufficient financial protection in place.
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The firm has deployed just under half its remaining asset base in its 2019 portfolio, with significant sums locked up in side pockets at year end.
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InsurTech investment almost halved globally last year.
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The ratings agency predicts strong non-life underwriting results for the current fiscal year, despite hefty catastrophe losses.
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UK rates are up by 100 percent in many cases.
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D&O pricing has lagged behind claims activity for the better part of a decade, market experts say.
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The carrier predicts double-digit rate increases in both Japan and the US later this year.
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Sydney hailstorms cost the carrier $A162mn after reinsurance recoveries.
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Some top-tier commercial auto carriers stand to see market improvement, JLT says.
-
The chief executive officer bemoaned low property cat reinsurance rate increases in a conference call with analysts.
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Renewal premium change in commercial insurance was up nearly 5 percent in 2018’s fourth quarter.
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Will “payback” be in vogue in the mid-year renewals?
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Arguably the defining feature of the last seven years of the reinsurance market has been the inexorable increase in the amount of ILS capital in the system, from roughly $40bn in 2012 to $90bn in H1 2018.
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Job losses and the merging of aviation teams helped maintain upwards pressure on rates.
-
Rate rises were recorded on loss-hit accounts and across marine treaty, construction and engineering, according to a client report.
-
Wildfire-exposed programmes experienced tighter capacity and increased pricing, the reinsurance broker found.
-
The Emea region proved a drag on rate development.
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If you have to turn to me for your dose of optimism, then things have probably taken a slightly strange turn.
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The size of its Harambee Re vehicle remains undisclosed.
-
Commissions on QS deals fall and excess of loss rates show modest improvement in the US.
-
UPC said the coverages and terms within the quota share remain unchanged.
-
Carriers are seeking rate rises of 10-20 percent in 2019, the broker said.
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That’s settled it then. JLT Re and Willis Re’s 1 January renewal reports have finally put one of the oldest insurance myths to bed.
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Insurers will pay less for risks ceded to the scheme from 1 January.
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The firm recorded a slight aggregate pricing decrease for property cat reinsurance, despite losses affecting negotiations.
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Trapped collateral after recent catastrophes could buttress pricing, the analysts say.
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The antitrust authority wants the Financial Conduct Authority to clamp down on “price walking”.
-
Industry loss estimates are expected to increase as carriers come to terms with their actual exposure to this year’s record-breaking wildfire season.
-
The West of England is imposing a general increase on members at the 20 February renewal, the first time in three years an International Group club will do so.
-
Rate reductions have already started to ‘decelerate’, one industry expert said.
-
Homeowners in the state pay more than 9 cents on the dollar of claims for legal costs, three times the amount nationwide, according to a report.
-
Casualty lines paint mixed rating picture going into 2019.
-
More than half of primary D&O policies saw a price increase in the third quarter.
-
Commercial auto and liability rates continued to rise in Q3, and workers’ comp savings persisted.
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Could 1.1 be a flat cat reinsurance renewal in the US?
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Evidence of a retro-driven spike in cat reinsurance pricing has so far failed to materialise.
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So far this year, nearly 135,000 assignment of benefits lawsuits have been filed in Florida.
-
Market premium is also projected to shrink 5 percent as a result of performance drive
-
Firm retro market in prospect ahead of 1.1 as deployable ILS capital narrows.
-
The asset manager retains powerful advocates but fundraising is likely to prove challenging.
-
Just how important is Markel Catco to the catastrophe reinsurance market?
-
The rating agency first downgraded the global non-life reinsurance industry’s outlook to negative in August 2014.
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Casualty reinsurers looking to continue positive pricing movements seen in 2018 renewals.
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The $15bn-$20bn wildfire losses have caused the ILS-dominated retro market to seize up.
-
‘Tsunami of data’ on commercial property set to raise underwriting performance.
-
Shares in the Munich-based carrier close down on concern the group is gearing up for large-scale M&A.
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This ain’t nothing like a hard market, but that is very much a good thing for everyone.
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Syndicates were given a hard ride in the planning process, but innovative ones are being allowed to grow.
-
The mutual has made a bid to acquire the 45% of stock it does not already own at a 25% premium.
-
The broker expects rate increases across 14 commercial lines next year.
-
Hiscox's share-price slide brought into focus the bereft feeling of below-forecast top-line growth.
-
Property direct and facultative (D&F) players are showing real patience in waiting for the market to turn.
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Executives faced pointed questions about workers’ compensation claims trends and casualty pricing during Q3 conference calls.
-
The trade association’s intervention follows an uptick in major onshore losses with BI exposure.
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Despite the broader withdrawal from the class, there is still too much capacity in the London market to trigger significant rate improvement.
-
The carrier says London market rates have risen 5 percent in the year to date as it reports 14.3 percent nine-month GWP growth.
-
Before Florence and Michael, rate reductions had looked set to resume.
-
The UK regulator aims to wrap up the study by the end of next year.
-
Japan all peril likely to see rate uplift, but competition pressures are expected to limit increases in China.
-
The carrier first wrote the full limit of the aggregate deal in 2015.
-
Direct written premiums for US homeowners’ insurance could hit $96bn in 2018, given rate activity through September of this year, according to an Aon Reinsurance Solutions report.
-
The mood music around EC3 has been pretty gloomy of late, as the market awaits the conclusion of the syndicate business forecast (SBF) planning process.
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The executive says pricing is not keeping pace with loss-cost trends.
-
The WR Berkley CEO highlighted areas for concern in professional liability lines.
-
Benign European loss experience and overcapacity means power still lies with buyers, sources said.
-
European cedants are considering dropping Lloyd's reinsurers at 1 January unless the UK is declared Solvency II-equivalent.
-
Initial reports indicate some positive pricing movement in the third quarter.
-
Brokers and underwriters are anticipating a turn in the market early next year following a slew of major refinery losses.
-
Analysis supports market commentary that after a trend of more centralised reinsurance buying, cedants are now buying more reinsurance.
-
The Swiss Re executive expects broadly stable property catastrophe rates in German-speaking and central, eastern and northern Europe.
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The executive predicted a more decisive response at the 1 April renewal.
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A new study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute shows medical payments per claim falling or holding steady in several US states.
-
The impact of Hurricane Michael on the state has led to Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation to push back rate changes scheduled to take effect on or after 7 October to 7 January 2019.
-
Marine and aviation cyber are among lines seen as attractive growth engines.
-
As deadline day for SBF feedback looms, Lloyd’s appears to have stuck to its hard-line rhetoric on profitability.
-
Analysts expect Q3 cat losses to be manageable for their covered (re)insurance companies.
-
Flock now writes 25 percent of the UK commercial drone market.
-
London-based underwriters are cautiously optimistic after hints that the US market is also hardening.
-
Lancashire will lose money in the third quarter.
-
Paul Jennings joins in November, while Nick Shaw is set to start next July.
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The Bermudian carrier has come under pressure from activist investor TimesSquare Capital to take advantage of market consolidation.
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Rising rates will bolster investment portfolios but spur casualty inflation.
-
Over-zealous regulation raises the risk that companies will simply withdraw, reducing customer choice and the provision of vital services.
-
Rates were being quoted flat to up 10 percent for 1 October as the Lloyd’s performance drive spurs action from carriers
-
Natt Wattanaumphaipong becomes one of several recent senior hires at the Lloyd's company's Asian business.
-
A strengthening economic environment and tightening of underwriting following catastrophe losses will lead to improved rates, according to Dr Schanz, Alms & Company.
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The UK flood reinsurance scheme said premiums charged to insurers would fall 12.5 percent for buildings and 33 percent for contents.
-
A bridge and hotel are among the landmarks reduced to rubble as rescue efforts continue.
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Although the underlying loss ratio remains stubbornly high, there are green shoots to be seen in Lloyd’s H1 results
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Sources have speculated that the reinsurer’s book could come under attack at renewal.
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Reinsurers saw marginal improvements in rates at the mid-year renewals.
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Whatever the details of the loss or the quantum, Florence is not going to be a market-changing eventAs the dust settles on what at one stage seemed to be the big hurricane of this season, (re)insurers can reflect on what Florence might have brought had it maintained its wind speeds as it made its way towards the Carolinas.
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If one thing was apparent this week in the French-speaking principality of Monte Carlo it was the collective “bof” that delegates emitted about the imminent arrival in the US of Hurricane Florence.
-
The Swiss Re CEO refutes the suggestion that financial-sector newcomers can deploy capital more efficiently than traditional reinsurers.
-
Another Monte Carlo with hurricanes attached.
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The almost 3% rise was tempered by earned loss ratios eroding by 7% in 2017-18.
-
Limited loss development from HIM hurricanes has dampened rate hikes, the broker said.
-
The German giant is upbeat on property cat, but warns of Irma creep.
-
The final outcome of 1 January looks likely once again to counter the typically bullish commentary from reinsurers at Monte Carlo.
-
Buyers say lower prices will help them purchase more reinsurance cover next year.
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Currency collapse sends ripples through political risk market
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Overall pricing will likely stay flat despite carriers’ attempts to get increases of 5 percent.
-
Following a benign first half of the year for catastrophe losses, the ratings agency is expecting negligible rate rises in 2019.
-
Who is willing to pay up when 2019 is widely expected to bring a return to pre-HIM conditions?
-
The consortium will offer A$50mn ($36mn) in capacity for middle-market risks that are normally written in the local markets.
-
Property, financial and professional lines recorded the largest rate increases in the period.
-
The Lancashire CEO also said his firm was considering adding new teams in niche, short-tail specialty lines.
-
Early reporters paint a picture of an orderly market in transition.
-
Property cat reinsurance rate rises still lag behind those of primary insurance, executives said during Q2 conference calls.
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The carrier declined to take full advantage of its increased Lloyd's capacity.
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An improvement in losses from the North Atlantic hurricanes and the Mexican earthquakes took 2.1 points off the Q2 cat ratio.
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A few pockets still need rate, CEO Greenberg says on earnings call.
-
The market curtailed its projections as carriers failed to secure sought-after rate rises.
-
Early reporters Travelers and RLI signal the rising primary rate trend continues.
-
JLT’s Plane Talking report finds rates holding steady.
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The 1 July renewal is the first since Marsh won the account from Aon in January.
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Including cat bonds issued via Everglades Re, the ILS share of the overall placement rose to 58 percent.
-
With a strategic review in process, could Maiden face activist pressures like its sister company AmTrust?
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Gains reflect shrinking loss ratios as premiums surge 37%, statutory filings show.
-
The insurer increases coverage by 41 percent to $445mn with ‘mid-single digit’ rate cuts.
-
A strengthening US economy should help global non-life insurance premiums to rise in coming years, despite a deceleration in emerging economies.
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The retreat follows marine retrenchment at AmTrust and Barbican.
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The broker pegs the “new norm” increase at about 5 percent.
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Carriers will have to ‘get serious’ on creating leaner business models after property cat rates made little ground at 1.6 and 1.7.
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Rates for financial institutions products renewed flat to up 5 percent in London at 1 July, sources said.
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Pricing in the terrorism market is showing signs of levelling out, with rate cuts at a far lower level than in previous years.
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Reinsurance returns are pretty much at cyclical lows, with cat returns structurally squeezed and far less responsive to shocks than previously.
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The backstop scheme will complete its review of premiums by the end of September.
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Analysts at Bernstein believe July’s renewals will outperform increases seen in June, but rates in 2019 will flatten.
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A tougher stance from local markets means brokers are having to work hard to place their property D&F accounts, sources said.
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Looser wordings in standalone cyber insurance mean the product is moving beyond what it was originally designed for, and could introduce systemic losses to the market, sources said.
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The direction and timing of the missive feels right - let's hope Lloyd's tackles syndicates' other issues with the same gusto.
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There is a stronger belief that commercial insurance rates with be at or above the three-year average.
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The insurer will gain time to assess reforms aimed at the AOB crisis.
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Retail and construction are among the worst hit market segments.
-
Earthquake capacity continues to grow and is now at an all-time high, seeing the same ugly pricing as elsewhere in the property sector, according to AmWins.
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The Corporation has warned syndicates to address unprofitable business or face closure.
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The Corporation must take action on underwriting discipline to protect the franchise.
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Rates ranged from flat to up 5 percent at the June renewals
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Commercial auto segment leads the way with another near double-digit increase in Q1.
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The online-only carrier will work with the Shanghai regulator on the technology.
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Berkley and other P&C CEOs feel loss trends will become more important.
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US commercial property underwriters see rate increases in the mid- to high-single digits at 1.6.
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Alternative sources of capital ‘ripped up’ the pricing rule book.
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The investment yield for Bermudians remained low for 2017, averaging 3.1 percent.
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The London and US market are finally coming into line on property insurance renewal rates.
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The P&I and marine carrier now leads Maersk’s hull insurance policy.
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The 1.6 renewals have further highlighted the inelasticity of cat reinsurance pricing.
-
The broker says reinsurance sector capital has grown by more than $10bn in the first half of 2018.
-
The insurer now has reinsurance for up to $3bn of losses from a Florida hurricane.
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Insurers pressed for 28% workers’ comp rate cut to reflect lower costs and taxes.
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The insurer is to take more out of premium pools, potentially leaving less for charity.
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The transaction provides cover for named storms and severe thunderstorms in Texas on an indemnity, annual aggregate basis.
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Valuations for brokers and carriers have hit a peak, executives said at a recent London 100 roundtable.
-
The broker’s global composite insurance index indicates a net upward movement of rates.
-
Aggregate gross written premiums for London-based carriers were up by 9.8 percent.
-
Rates in primary habitational and hotels and dealers’ open lot insurance are accelerating faster than in the wider property market.
-
Both 1.1 and 1.4 renewals concluded with only minor rate gains.
-
Raymond James cites an improving combined ratio for making the homeowners' insurance provider a strong buy
-
Anaemic rates have forced the carrier to abandon the business line.
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Strong growth reported as shift towards lower return, lower volatility model continues.
-
If something is hard-won it is more valuable.
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Prices at 1.6 look likely to remain depressed by competition.
-
Gross written premium rises to $1.16bn in the first quarter.
-
Surging Geico profit and the US tax cut help produce insurance earnings of $407mn.
-
Rates likely to be no better or worse than today, Lancashire’s CEO warns.
-
The CEO expects clarity on the carrier's ownership before the hurricane season.
-
Shares in the carrier rise sharply after a significant improvement in the loss ratio and reserve releases propel earnings past forecasts.
-
Gallagher chairman and CEO predicts no return to a soft market "anytime quickly".
-
First quarter earnings disclosed by carriers so far have shown positive headline results as underlying loss ratios improve.
-
Ahead of the PLUS cyber symposium, the development of the cyber market remains a hot topic.
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Executives share their views on pricing across primary and reinsurance lines in Q1.
-
In a trading update, JLT said rate increases had been largely limited to loss-hit sectors.
-
In the no-nonsense style for which he is well known, Evan Greenberg made short work of the argument for doing business at Lloyd’s.
-
The broker's president and CEO predicted rates could "moderate downward" in the coming months.
-
Rob Berkley, CEO of WR Berkley, has said his firm will not pull out of reinsurance despite what he termed a “frustrating” period for the segment.
-
Underlying profitability at global reinsurers has deteriorated by more than 5 points on the combined ratio since 2005.
-
Aviation rates held flat during first quarter renewals as underwriters prioritised profitability above volume or market share, according to JLT’s latest Plane Talking report.
-
There is growing evidence that upwards pricing momentum for US commercial property insurance is already waning.
-
The president of specialty insurer RLI has accused some MGAs in the US market of "irrational behaviour", with business still being written at unsustainable rates.
-
Strengthening resolve among aviation underwriters is arresting a prolonged decline in rates, broker JLT Specialty said.
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Fitch is maintaining its negative outlook on the property and casualty (re)insurance sector, citing an excess of capital and strains on pricing.
-
Tumbling cat bond prices continue to exert pressure on the wider reinsurance market and are likely to curb rate increases at the upcoming Florida renewal.
-
There is growing evidence that upwards pricing momentum for US commercial property insurance is already waning, even as underwriters continue to digest record-breaking 2017 cat losses.
-
Higher loss experience and increasing levels of litigation have led to restricted capacity for US directors' and officers' risks.
-
Pricing on loss-free airline all-risk accounts showed muted upward movement at the 1 April renewals amid continued overcapacity and an uptick in claims.
-
After a harsh winter that has run into early April, anyone living in the Northeast of the US will be familiar with the old adage "one swallow does not a summer make".
-
US commercial property insurance rate increases are already calming as the initial reaction from underwriters to record 2017 cat losses is tempered by the realities of a well-capitalised P&C industry, according to Willis Towers Watson.
-
Low catastrophe losses and an improving rate environment should bolster P&C (re)insurers' Q1 earnings, analysts said in recent sector previews, while share prices continue to be buoyed by M&A activity.
-
MS Amlin is a name which currently looms large in the minds of Lloyd's underwriters.
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The P&C insurance market is showing signs of a hardening pricing environment, but insurers are not taking a long-term view when considering rate increases at renewal, Chubb chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg said.
-
How such an eventful catastrophe year as 2017 could fail to dramatically affect pricing in a positive way seems to have surprised, and disappointed, many underwriting executives at Lloyd's syndicates.
-
Property reinsurance rates remained broadly flat on loss-free accounts at the 1 April renewals, according to a Willis Re report.
-
Property reinsurance rates remained broadly flat on loss-free accounts at the 1 April renewals, according to a Willis Re report released today.
-
The price per $1mn of directors' and officers' coverage fell 8.3 percent last year, according to Aon Risk Solutions.
-
Lloyd's accident year ex-cat loss ratio jumped by 5.6 points, year on year, to 58.9 percent for 2017, as the full effect of a prolonged soft market was laid bare.
-
Florida homeowners' carrier Anchor Insurance Holdings has bolstered the surplus of its operating subsidiaries, raising at least $17.14mn in the last four months, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
Shipowners with loss-free accounts have received low-single-digit rate decreases on protection and indemnity cover at general renewals for the 2018/19 policy year.
-
Global commercial cyber liability premium is set to hit $6.2bn by 2020, with the services sector likely to be the biggest buyer of the standalone product in that timeframe, according to a report by data analytics firm Verisk.
-
AM Best has removed New Zealand carrier Tower Limited and subsidiary Tower Insurance from under review with negative implications following the sale of a stake in the parent to distressed debt specialist Bain Capital.
-
Florida-based Heritage has already secured quotes of flat pricing from underwriters for hundreds of millions of dollars of limit on its 2018 property cat placement, according to chairman and CEO Bruce Lucas.
-
AM Best and Moody's have placed XL Group and subsidiaries under review after Monday's announcement that Axa intends to acquire XL Group for $15.3bn.
-
Axa's ratings have been placed under review with negative implications by Moody's, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings on the heels of the carrier's deal to buy XL Group for $15.3bn.
-
Commercial insurance rates strengthened worldwide in the fourth quarter, marking the first average increase since early 2013, broker Marsh has found.
-
Commercial insurance rates strengthened worldwide in the fourth quarter, marking the first average increase since early 2013, broker Marsh has found.
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As the fourth quarter earnings season approaches its close, analysts have highlighted P&C pricing and accelerating industry M&A as potential tailwinds for the year ahead.
-
It's amazing how secular trends work their way back and forth across the corporate world down the generations. They ebb and flow like the tides.
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AmTrust’s critical A rating remains unchanged following the latest developments involving the carrier’s plan to go private and the sale of its fee business to Madison Dearborn, AM Best said today, but the rating agency raised the pressure on management to file its annual financial report by 16 March.
-
Reading through The Insurance Insider's coverage of the Florida homeowners' sector these last couple of weeks gives the impression of a fragmented, multi-tier market that once again is at a crossroads.
-
Commercial insurance rates rose 0.3 percent on average during the fourth quarter for the first gain across all-sized accounts in over three years in the US, The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB) said today in its Q4 2017 survey.
-
Rates for London market business should continue to go up for the next "two to three" years as pricing remains too low, according to Hiscox CEO Bronek Masojada.
-
Pricing for directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance is getting firmer, albeit slowly and in distinct areas, while industry executives are heartened that market leaders are walking away from business if they have to.
-
Underlying results at Bermuda-based (re)insurers worsened in the fourth quarter of 2017, as the group's accident-year ex-cat loss ratio deteriorated year on year.
-
Natural catastrophe-affected marine cargo business, North American property insurance and financial lines and product recall are likely to be among pockets of significant hardening within the primary insurance market this year, Willis Towers Watson's Marketplace Realities GB report showed.
-
Loss-affected US property catastrophe insurance accounts are facing rate hikes of 20 to 25 percent, according to broker Willis Towers Watson.
-
US property claims from third quarter catastrophes and the sudden change in the UK's personal injury discount rate helped to nudge up reinsurance rates at the 1 January renewals.
-
Reinsurance rate rises ended up being pretty limp by the time 1 January came around.
-
Scor Global P&C CEO Victor Peignet has predicted that increased discipline could be the legacy of 2017.
-
Hannover Re is expecting full-year 2017 net income of approximately EUR950mn ($1.18bn), better than the previously anticipated EUR800mn, it announced this morning alongside renewals commentary.
-
RenaissanceRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell has predicted that the positive rate momentum seen in 1 January will follow through to renewals in June and July, given the amount of loss-affected business due to renew.
-
The sample size may not have been large, but the handful of results filings from US carriers and brokers last week provided further evidence that the commercial insurance market is beginning to see upward - albeit moderate - movement on rates.
-
Despite recognising that positive pricing conditions will be in play for 2018, rating agency S&P Global Ratings said any upwards correction of rates is not likely to be enough to ease pressures on carriers.
-
A continuing reinsurance capital surplus mitigated rate rises at 1 January, with loss-hit US property cat, global direct and facultative (D&F) and property retrocession the only major classes posting increases comfortably into the double digits, according to JLT Re.
-
The sample size may not have been large, but the handful of results filings from US carriers and brokers last week provided further evidence that the commercial insurance market is beginning to see upward - albeit moderate - movement on rates.
-
Annual insured catastrophe losses surpassed $140bn for the first time last year following the California wildfires and hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria (HIM), according to JLT Re.
-
As anyone following Travelers in recent years will know, the US insurance giant's management are reluctant to accept the "bellwether" moniker bestowed upon them by many industry commentators
-
Uncertainty around the Ogden rate continued to push up UK motor excess-of-loss (XoL) renewal rates at 1 January, albeit with substantial divergence across programme layers.
-
The implosion of Carillion is likely to add further losses to UK trade credit underwriters already reeling from the collapse of wholesaler Palmer & Harvey and airline Monarch.
-
Continued excess capacity and the overall resilience of the market meant most 1 January accounts renewed flat on a risk-adjusted basis, according to Guy Carpenter.
-
Bermuda-based carriers' share prices jumped upon the news of AIG's $5.56bn takeover bid for Validus yesterday, buoyed not only by the prospect of further M&A on the island but also Brian Duperreault's positive outlook on the sector.
-
The global aviation market is starting to harden, with loss-hit accounts achieving rate increases in the fourth quarter, according to JLT Specialty.
-
Commercial insurance rates in the US rose across all major lines except workers' compensation in the fourth quarter, according to an insurance pricing index compiled by a unit of software company Applied Systems.
-
Every year at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous The Insurance Insider gathers together a celestial roll call of global reinsurance leaders for a discussion that has evolved to become the definitive event of the gathering
-
Cat bond issuance reached a record $11.1bn last year as sponsors took advantage of low rates and an overhang of supply from 2016 to buy cover
-
As equity analysts digested the disappointing renewal rates from 1 January, there was a growing sense that further price increases could be seen during the mid-year US renewals.
-
The rate increases in property direct and facultative business were one of the more headline-grabbing outcomes of what was perhaps a more muted 1.1 renewal season than anticipated.
-
Rate increases achieved by the property direct and facultative (D&F) market at 1 January could herald the beginning of a slow recovery in the class, which has been one of the greatest victims of the prolonged soft market.
-
Reinsurers are weighing up a complex position with a lot of moving parts as they start trying to assess their prospects for 2018.
-
Reinsurers were able to achieve modest rate increases on loss-free marine accounts at 1 January despite a growing consensus that third quarter cat losses had fallen short of early fears.
-
As the dust settles on the 1 January reinsurance renewals, further evidence has emerged of improving conditions for underwriters of US casualty and professional lines treaty business.
-
Property catastrophe reinsurance renewal pricing came in below the levels hoped for by reinsurers, as the relative attractiveness of the class for traditional players and the efficiency of the ILS funds in reloading dampened post-loss rate rises.
-
The commercial insurance market experienced a market-changing year in 2017 that should drive a broad turn in pricing, according to Sompo International global insurance CEO Jack Kuhn.
-
After a mixed 1 January renewal for reinsurers, signs are emerging of improving prospects for underwriters in the US commercial insurance sector as traction begins to build slowly on pricing.
-
The marine (re)insurance market's loss from the 2015 Alpine Eternity accident has increased by $65mn to $340mn after the claim estimate was revised upwards a second time, The Insurance Insider can reveal
-
Underwriting rooms at property cat reinsurers may have been best avoided this week as executives came to terms with a miserable 1 January renewal that fell well short of expectations
-
Zurich North America has placed a new consolidated casualty quota share that pays a ceding commission of 27 percent, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
In many sports, contestants feed off public displays of confidence
-
Energy sector rate increases are likely to remain in the single digits, if that, for risks unaffected by 2017's near-record catastrophes, JLT said yesterday, adding its voice to a rising chorus of similar sentiments from analysts and market sources.
-
There are six complexly interlinked themes that can be used to tell the reinsurance sector's stories as we look back to 2017 and into 2018.
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Rates on loss-hit catastrophe retro accounts surged as much as 30 percent at 1 January, according to Willis Re.
-
Higher-attaching UK motor liability programmes experienced rate rises of as much as 100 percent at 1 January, as uncertainty about Ogden discount rate reforms made for a challenging renewal, according to Willis Re.
-
AIG bought a new $2bn aggregate catastrophe cover and a new international catastrophe treaty at 1 January as it followed through on a commitment to lay off more risk to the reinsurance market, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
-
We gave our early take on the renewals on Friday
-
Reinsurers expecting to achieve significant rate increases in the 1.1 renewals have been disappointed, according to Willis Re.
-
The overall pre-Christmas theme of disappointment for reinsurers has continued, with most business now firm ordered with only modest rate increases for clients without losses.
-
Insured losses are likely to more than double year-on-year in 2017 to $136bn, according to Swiss Re's latest Sigma report, making this year one of the costliest ever for catastrophes
-
Reinsurers look unlikely to achieve a meaningful correction in US property catastrophe reinsurance pricing at 1 January, but will be able to point to a better than expected casualty renewal.
-
Reinsurance pricing reflects market fundamentals. And that is the story of this renewal to date.
-
In common with their property cat colleagues, US casualty reinsurance underwriters are suffering a late 1 January renewal, with most deals still awaiting firm order terms as of early December.
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Casualty reinsurers are talking about brokers and clients taking a more "realistic" approach to dynamics in a sector where margins have been squeezed to the point of being unsustainable on many quota share deals.
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Florida's state-backed insurer is preparing for a challenging 2018 that will see ongoing profitability pressures from assignment of benefits (AOB)-driven non-weather losses and an increase in reinsurance costs.
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Reading external budget documents is unlikely to be high on the to-do list for reinsurers and brokers entering the frenetic last couple of weeks of a 1.1 renewal season that has run late and proved challenging.
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The London property binders market is resisting rate decreases on US business at renewal in the wake of losses from the North Atlantic hurricanes.
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The International Group (IG) of protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs has set back hopes of broad-based rate rises in the marine market after achieving a rate reduction of around 1 to 2 percent on renewal of its excess-of-loss (XoL) reinsurance treaty.
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Equity analyst meetings in Bermuda have pointed to lower reinsurance pricing increases than initially anticipated at the January renewals, with rate rises in US property in the high single digits and only loss- impacted accounts seeing double-digit growth.
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The International Group (IG) of protection and indemnity (P&I) clubs has set back hopes of broad-based rate rises in the marine market after achieving a rate reduction of around 1 to 2 percent on renewal of its excess-of-loss (XoL) reinsurance treaty
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Early momentum for reinsurers in the US property catastrophe treaty renewals is fast evaporating as cedants increasingly exploit excess capital to cap rate rises, The Insurance Insider understands.
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The International Group (IG) of P&I clubs looks set to secure a rate reduction on its vast reinsurance deal for 2017/18 after a bruising round of negotiations with the marine market, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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The Thomas fire has grown to 249,500 acres and is now the fourth largest in recorded California history, according to state fire authority Cal Fire
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Florida’s state-backed insurer Citizens has budgeted for an 8 percent increase in its private risk-transfer costs for 2018 in anticipation of a hardening property cat market.
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Property cat reinsurers and brokers negotiating 1.1 renewals are reacting to a developing California wildfire situation that could disrupt specific placements and add upwards pressure to broader pricing dynamics.
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The UK trade credit insurance market has been hit by a series of claims in recent months, prompting discussions on potential rate increases.
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Primary commercial pricing remained little changed in the US during the third quarter, according to two recent surveys.
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Primary commercial pricing remained little changed in the US during the third quarter, according to two recent surveys.
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London has a very difficult balancing act to pull off
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Commercial P&C insurance rates decreased by 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2017, according to a survey by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers.
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Primary insurers focused on US personal lines have weathered this year’s series of catastrophic events with minimal disruptions and most rated companies will report a profit for 2017, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
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Commercial insurance prices remained flat overall in the third quarter, with an accelerating gain in auto rates the only major outlier to a moderating trend across most lines, data from Willis Towers Watson show.
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Florida’s state-controlled Citizens won double-digit wind-only hikes for next year as regulators set the carrier’s rates today, mandating increases of as much as 10.1 percent.
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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
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The soft market for upstream energy is over.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Capital Insurance Group's heavily loss-impacted property catastrophe reinsurance programme has been firm ordered with a pure premium rise of around 20 percent, The Insurance Insider can reveal.
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Reinsurers have moderated their stance on achievable rate increases in 2018 following this year’s losses, as carriers have seen limited deal flow, according to UBS analyst Jonny Urwin.
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A committee of UK legislators looking at a draft law to reform the Ogden discount rate has called for more fact-finding about how compensation recipients invest their sums
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US tax reforms will push up the cost of American insurance but will not necessarily shrink the pool of available capital, according to RenaissanceRe president and CEO Kevin O'Donnell
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AIM-listed carrier Helios Underwriting has increased its capacity by 26 percent to £41.0mn ($54.9mn) for 2018 due to expectations of higher rates
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What goes up must come down...
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Rising claims severity and more than a decade of compounding rate reductions have led carriers in the international professional indemnity (PI) market to reassess their involvement in the class and demand price increases at renewal.
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As US casualty treaty market negotiations continue in the build-up to 1 January there is growing evidence that a number of leading reinsurers are exerting downwards pressure on ceding commissions that could drive a shift in pricing dynamics.
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After 15 years of downward pricing pressure, underwriters in the airline market finally secured a 3 to 5 percent increase in lead premiums in the key fourth quarter renewals, The Insurance Insider understands.
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An expected hardening in (re)insurance pricing may not be enough to offset pressure from high expenses and lower reserve releases at London market carriers, Fitch Ratings has warned.
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The first European catastrophe reinsurance renewals have priced, and may point the way towards low single-digit rate increases for international cat accounts at 1 January.
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Insurance rates worldwide fell through the third quarter despite the string of catastrophic events in late August and September, according to pricing data compiled by Marsh.
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US casualty underwriters are confident of achieving rate increases of up to 10 percent in the early part of next year, as a build-up of liability claims and 2017 property cat losses propel the market past an inflection point.
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The weighted average price per £1 of Lloyd's capacity more than halved in 2017, as the amount tendered by Names rocketed year-on-year.
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Insurers fear another rise in the UK's insurance premium tax (IPT) rate in tomorrow's budget after three increases in less than two years doubled the rate to 12 percent.
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Bermudian carrier Aspen has forecast double-digit rate increases for global energy and construction and global marine insurance following a tough quarter for natural disasters.
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New insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund Lutece Re will be among the start-ups targeting the retrocession segment in 2018 as the market anticipates a significant rating reaction to heavy losses this year, sister publication Trading Risk revealed this month
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First came the fear, then the relief and then, arguably, a creeping complacency
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The Lloyd's market should not get distracted by recent major catastrophes and see them as the answer to all of its problems, performance management director Jon Hancock has said.
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Zurich CEO Mario Greco has said improving commercial rates following Q3 catastrophes will help the insurer in achieving its financial targets.
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The launch of the second phase of motor insurance pricing reforms in China will increase volatility in P&C insurers' underwriting performance over the next two years, according to rating agency Standard & Poor's
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The big three insurance brokers all expanded their reinsurance business on an organic basis in Q3, with Aon posting the fastest growth for the second consecutive quarter.
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Third Point Re CEO and president Robert Bredahl has told analysts that while reinsurance rate declines had ended, it could be 24 months before pricing reaches a new high
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