The April reinsurance renewal season confirmed SCOR’s expectations of “significant and generalized market hardening trends” according to Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR Global P&C.
These trends are set to continue, Conoscente and his employer believe, with an expectation of more reinsurance rate firming at the upcoming mid-year renewals and possibly beyond.
In reporting on the April renewal season, global reinsurance firm SCOR said that it grew its premium volumes written by an impressive 14.3%.
At the same time the overall price increase experienced was an equally impressive 4.3% for the reinsurer.
SCOR expects that the “rate-on-rate compounding effects” provided by the now consecutive years of price firming will help to deliver higher profitability on its portfolio.
64% of the April renewal portfolios is Asia-Pacific based for SCOR, with Japan and India the main locations written, each accounting for 28% to 29% of the renewals.
SCOR grew its Japanese reinsurance premiums by 3% to EUR 156 million, citing “significant price increases.”
In particular, SCOR noted that it achieved price increases of 12.3% year-on-year on Japanese catastrophe excess-of-loss reinsurance programs, accelerating the payback it has now received after the 2018 and 2019 typhoon losses.
In India, SCOR saw significant premium growth of +21% at constant exchange rates, reaching EUR 178 million.
16% of the April renewal portfolio was in the United States and here SCOR was more restrained it seems, delivering a stable topline (-1%) of EUR 83 million, saying that it focused its “growth on geographies with market conditions deemed more appealing.”
After the April renewals, SCOR has now renewed 78% of its reinsurance treaty portfolio for the year and believes it is on target to achieve its 2021 growth and technical profitability assumptions.
Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR Global P&C, commented, “SCOR Global P&C’s successful April 2021 renewals, which are heavily skewed towards Asia-Pacific, confirm the excellent market trends for P&C (re)insurance seen in January, with sizeable technical profitability improvements across regions and lines.
He added, “These renewals fully confirm the outlook we provided in September 2020 of significant and generalized market hardening trends. We believe that improvements in pricing and terms and conditions on the P&C (re)insurance market will continue for future renewals.
“In this supportive market environment, SCOR is ideally positioned to seize profitable growth opportunities thanks to the depth of its franchise, its recognized technical expertise, its deep relationships with clients and its ability to meet their needs.”
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