As per broker Guy Carpenter’s 1/1 reinsurance renewals report, there was a notable rise in demand for property retrocession lines during the January renewals, with the company noting that ongoing growth in supply contributed to some price reductions and broader coverage.
The broker also observed that January 1, 2026, saw a limited number of new retrocessionaires enter the market with diverse appetites.
Non-loss-impacted placements saw risk-adjusted rate changes between -12.5% and -20%, the broker explained, with lower risk-adjusted rate changes seen on aggregate placements and higher Rate on Line (ROL) occurrence layers.
As well as this, the broker highlighted that greater reductions were seen on more risk remote layers too.
In spite of some retro losses derived from January 2025’s California wildfires, the broker stressed that a lack of subsequent material reinsured losses from catastrophe events saw existing markets generate strong levels of retained earnings to deploy.
As mentioned, Guy Carpenter noted that a small number of new retrocessionaires came to market at 1/1, which increased competition within the space.
Primarily due to enhanced buying conditions and desire for underlying portfolio growth, there was also an increased demand of over USD 1 billion for occurrence and aggregate products at 1/1.
Turning attention towards cyber, Guy Carpenter reported that retentions remained stable with growing demand being seen for non-proportional covers. The firm also said that new structures placed at 1/1 include risk XoL, hard retrocession and combined property/cyber tail covers.
“Cedents showed increased appetite for non-proportional solutions and diversified their panels. We are seeing growing appetite to explore new retro purchases from reinsurers, while savings on core placements were often reinvested in other lines,” the broker explained.
Furthermore, Guy Carpenter also announced that it placed the first GC Cyber XXL product for January 1, which the company describes as a “hard retro” arrangement that provides XoL protection on an underlying portfolio of XoL treaties.
The broker also highlighted that retro industry loss warranty (ILW) capacity expanded at 1/1, as it benefited from a favourable market environment for buyers.
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