Reinsurance News

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has today launched the Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF), a new initiative that aims to build financial resilience and bridge a $1.4 trillion global health, mortality, and disaster protection gap, with support from the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market expected in future.

While the momentum behind rate firming in reinsurance has continued to fade so far this year, the direction of travel has been positive and better margins are ahead for the reinsurance sector, according to Fitch Ratings.

Having announced this morning that a proposal has been made to investors to speed the running-off and return of capital of the Markel CATCo retrocessional reinsurance investment funds, the half-year report of the manager’s public fund suggests further wildfire subrogation related recoveries are possible.

Reinsurance companies that are actively managing third-party capital in insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicles are some of the best positioned to take advantage of the current favourable underwriting conditions, according to Moody’s Insurance Credit Analyst, Helena Kingsley-Tomkins.

A new proposal from Markel CATCo Investment Management and Markel Corporation seeks to speed the return of capital from the CATCo retrocessional reinsurance investment funds to investors, while avoiding any complications to the ongoing running-off from legal claims made.

The retrocession market failed to harden as hoped for through 2021, with in some cases rapid and material declines in pricing seen, especially in industry loss warranty’s (ILWs’), according to Guy Carpenter’s Sebastian Cook.

Analysis from S&P Global Ratings suggests that reinsurance firms may be underestimating their natural catastrophe exposures by anywhere from 33% to as much as 50%, as they grapple with incorporating climate change into their decision-making process.

The industry loss to insurance and reinsurance markets from March’s severe flooding that affected New South Wales and Queensland, Australia has now been revised down significantly to A$751 million by PERILS, as the company suggests the sector over-reserved for this flood catastrophe event.

The upward trajectory of rates on line will continue at the January 1st 2022 reinsurance renewals, including European accounts hit by losses this year, according to Sven Althoff, executive board member at Hannover Re.

Catastrophe risk modeller RMS has come out with a high estimate of insurance and potential reinsurance losses for recent hurricane Nicholas, pegging the range of industry loss as from $1.1 billion to as high as $2.2 billion.