Covid-19 news

Commercial insurance buyers are now facing the prospects of an extended hardening market thanks to the pandemic, as well as new pressures on contract terms and conditions, Willis Towers Watson said today.

Bermuda-based reinsurance firm and third-party capital management specialist RenaissanceRe has again reported a rise in the amount of fee income earned through its various third-party capital management and ILS fund activities, also paying out more in distributions to investors as well.

Reinsurance giant Munich Re has reported a “financially manageable” hit of around EUR 800 million to its first-quarter 2020 results, from losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Catastrophe risk modelling specialist RMS has said that a hurricane striking the United States while pandemic restrictions remain in place could end up inflating the ultimate insurance and reinsurance industry loss by up to 20%.

The Covid-19 pandemic is unlike anything else ever encountered by the re/insurance industry and will be a headwind for future reinsurance capacity, according to AIG’s Global Chief Operating Officer and CEO of General Insurance Peter Zaffino.

Reinsurance firm Hannover Re has set up an initial EUR 220 million net reserve for losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, but warns that it finds it impossible to quantify the potential full impacts to its business across the P&C and life sides.

A new report from A.M. Best highlights the potential damage that any legislative moves to force retroactive business interruption claims into the insurance and reinsurance industry could cause, saying that as much as 50% of re/insurer capital could be wiped out with just two months worth of claims.

For Berkshire Hathaway, the insurance and reinsurance underwriting conglomerate led by Warren Buffett, it’s not simply a question of carefully crafted exclusions when it comes to pandemic risks, for the so-called Sage of Omaha is perfectly happy to underwrite it, as long as the price is right.

AlphaCat Managers, the insurance-linked securities and collateralised reinsurance investment manager entity of insurance giant American International Group’s (AIG) delivered its parent $10 million of income for the first-quarter of 2020.

France headquartered global reinsurance company SCOR said it is pleased with the support investors have shown its latest catastrophe bond, the $200 million Atlas Capital Reinsurance 2020 DAC (Series 2020-1) transaction, while also praising the Irish regulators efficiency and the fact it resulted in a Solvency II first.