RenaissanceRe

Improved performance and growing investment returns played a role in the upgrade.

Cat portfolios generally grew, but casualty approaches varied.

Wind season remains an important variable, but also might not change current dynamics significantly.

The property segment reported a CoR of 27.4% for the quarter, down 26.5 points year on year.

The reinsurer has also appointed Mehdi Benleulmi as global head of credit.

Chance Gilliland spent a decade at Chubb underwriting property binders.

The firm said supply and demand was becoming more in balance than at 1 January renewals.

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

He will oversee Ascot’s US and Bermuda insurance and reinsurance companies.

Sources warned some property XoL books are already running 50% loss ratios.

Deteriorating CoRs, GWP growth and fears over wildfire impacts were common themes.

The reinsurer is ready to deploy additional capacity following the event, but only if prices are commensurate with risk.

Hurricane Milton brought the firm net losses of $270mn in Q4, while it forecast up to a $750mn wildfire hit for Q1.

The reinsurer tends to support a number of syndicates where it has a potential relationship.

In other property, Helene and Milton will assure rates remain attractive, he added.

Hurricane Milton is estimated to have a net negative impact of $275mn on Q4 results.

Everest Re bucked a more general trend to keep cat exposure stable.

The property market remains “one of the most favourable... I've seen in my career", he said.

The property CoR improved by 9.1 points, while casualty and specialty’s fell 5 points.

The specialty treaty market is preparing to deal with the fallout from the Baltimore bridge disaster.

The Bermudian has been reducing exposure in Florida for almost a decade.

The property CoR improved by 13.7 points, while casualty and specialty’s deteriorated by 6.7 points.

The 100% equity award will vest in full after five years.

Sven Wehmeyer, Jodie Arkell, Hugh Brennan and Ed Cruttenden have new roles.

Strong reinsurance results have absorbed long-tail reserve charges.

The initial plan was to renew $2.7bn of the acquired book.

This was RenRe’s first set of quarterly results after its takeover of Validus.

The segment has bounced back from its mid-2022 nadir, but its current zenith is not that much to shout home about.

Additional disclosure following the RenRe acquisition reveals results for both carriers for the nine months to 30 September last year.

Ratings could be lowered by one notch depending on regulatory restrictions on cash flow from Bermuda operating entities to non-operating holding companies, the ratings agency said.

Other senior executives, including CFO Robert Qutub and general counsel Shannon Bender, received stock awards of $750,000 for their involvement in the Validus Re acquisition.

The number of staff retained contrasted with more dramatic cuts made after the acquisition of Tokio Millennium and Platinum.

After moving into the rank of fifth-largest reinsurer, following its acquisition of Validus, RenRe said it would continue to take a leading role in the regional cat space and expected to be more able to trade through market cycles.

The Bermudian firm said it expects the acquisition could drive more growth than the prior forecast of $2.7bn incremental premium.

The Bermudian also disclosed that it raised $16.3mn of third-party capital in Medici during the quarter.

The deal was announced in late May, with RenRe taking over AIG’s treaty business, including AlphaCat Managers, and all renewal rights to Talbot’s reinsurance treaty unit.

The Bermudian’s global property CUO and European chief says it is ready to expand if conditions remain favourable.

The reinsurer said it was monitoring conditions in the property E&S markets, where it has been reducing capacity to grow in property treaty, as rate gains could provide fertile ground for future growth.

Large loss events resulted in a net negative impact of $68.5mn on the property segment’s Q2 underwriting results.

The reaction to capital raising this year signals that investor belief in risk-takers is reinvigorated.

RenaissanceRe has said it hopes to retain as much as 90% of the Validus Re portfolio, but where are the highest areas of overlap by cedant?

Morgan Stanley and Golman Sachs exercised in full their right to buy 945,000 shares in the company.

The carrier intends to use the cash raised as part of its consideration for Validus.

The deal is the third scale-up buyout for the firm, highlighting the ongoing value of scale in the reinsurance segment.

The deal is not predicted to have a long-term impact on RenRe’s financial leverage, AM Best said.

The takeover will push it up two places to rank as the fifth-largest writer of P&C reinsurance by gross premium.

The Bermudian reinsurer launched a public offering of 6,300,000 common shares and anticipates raising around $1.15bn to finance the transaction.

The deal represents RenRe’s third Bermuda consolidation deal following Platinum and TMR.

The CEO said the reinsurer has already written some private deals ahead of the June 1 deadline and expects to continue a pivot away from E&S in favour of property cat reinsurance.

The segment reported a 13.5-point improvement in its CoR to 56.5%, while maintaining a 14.6% growth in net written premiums.

The executive will stand for election at RenRe’s AGM in May.

The January 1 renewal for 2023 was “one of the most profound” the company has ever had, the CEO said.

The Bermudian also raised third-party capital of $402.9mn effective January 1, 2023, including $377.2mn in DaVinci and the remaining in Medici.

The world’s largest investment company has assets under management of more than $10tn.

The firm elevated Justin O'Keefe, Cathal Carr, Fiona Walden and Bryan Dalton to US and Bermuda, Europe, casualty & specialty, and property CUOs, respectively.

The executive will continue to lead climate and sustainability underwriting initiatives in addition to his new role.

The RenRe vehicle, formerly a major retro writer, has been a reduced force this year.

The reinsurer is ready to “walk away from business” where it feels pricing and terms and conditions are not good enough.

The Bermudian reinsurer said both appointments are effective January 1, 2023.

A 3.9-point decline in the casualty and specialty segment offset a 2.5-point deterioration in the company’s property business.

The estimate is driven by $540mn of losses attributable to Hurricane Ian.

This publication’s review of H1 disclosures shows how listed (re)insurers’ nat cat losses have tallied with aggregate projections.

Ratings agencies suggest that carriers must do better on controlling volatility – but diverging risk appetites give the lie to the idea that the industry is walking away from risk.

The carrier said increased demand should maintain upward rate pressure at January 1.

The company’s property segment booked a combined ratio of 57.6%, 13.8 points higher compared to Q2 2021 due to a higher attritional loss ratio.

RenaissanceRe has always been a business with strong convictions and an assured management team, willing to carve out a path distinct from competitors.

Sudhir Modhvadia will be based in London and report to head of facultative Alex Shepherd.

RenaissanceRe CEO Kevin O’Donnell explained on an earnings call his take on the mid-year renewals and a relatively low impact of the Ukraine war.

The firm reported that net claims and claims expenses incurred related to the invasion had a $27.1mn negative impact in the casualty and specialty segment.

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

The new platform extends RenRe’s suite of ILS and reinsurance strategies.

The carrier has introduced a number of ESG-focused roles, which sees Cathal Carr, SVP, underwriting, appointed as global head of climate and sustainability strategy.