Reinsurance News

Wildfire season in California has continued to escalate with more structures burned and reports of extreme fire behaviour in high temperatures, low humidity and drought conditions, with almost 300 structures now burned by the two largest blazes.

The market for natural catastrophe reinsurance underwriting remains “very hard” at this time, according to Swiss Re’s CEO Christian Mumenthaler, who also noted today that alternative capital is “not as keen” as it was to enter there.

It’s being reported by local press that the property insurance reforms enacted in Florida during the special session of the legislative in May are in some cases having a negative effect, as they are resulting in reduced options for coverage, while prices are also being driven up.

Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has appointed well-known UK based insurance-linked securities (ILS) focused executive Andy Palmer as the new CEO of its Swiss Re Capital Markets Limited business.

The Australia flood event in February and March 2022 has now become the second costliest severe weather related catastrophe event in the country’s history, as claims continue to rise and the overall industry loss is now pegged at AU $5.134 billion by the Insurance Council.

Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re reported its first-half 2022 results this morning and revealed a continued strong appetite for growth into natural catastrophe business, as it remains one of the larger players to keep its core focus on protecting society against disasters and weather events.

Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis has responded to the Office of Insurance Regulation’s (OIR) announcement of a plan to launch a temporary reinsurance arrangement through Citizens Property Insurance Corporation as “unprecedented,” but in reality this along with other state-supported reinsurance all push more risk on taxpayers and citizens.

RenaissanceRe is managing the volatile ceded reinsurance and retrocession market by leveraging its ability to cede more risk to its managed capital and so buy less on the open market, according to comments made by its CEO.

Global reinsurance firm Munich Re estimates that global insured losses from natural catastrophe events reached $34 billion in the first-half of 2022, as over half of the economic loss tally was covered.

Universal Insurance Holdings, the Florida headquartered primary insurance carrier, has cited the states challenging insurance claims environment as a key driver of a technical underwriting loss for the second-quarter of the year.