Reinsurance renewals news

The retrocession market was more orderly at 2023’s mid-year renewal season, with capacity less constrained and as a result more buyers being satisfied, but still catastrophe retro reinsurance rates have risen by 30% to 60% and higher in some cases, broker Gallagher Re explained.

Australian insurance giant Suncorp has completed its catastrophe reinsurance renewal for the coming year, but has clearly felt the cost of a hard market, with the tower shrinking, Suncorp’s retention rising, the cost being up and, perhaps most notable, its long-standing aggregate cover has not been renewed.

Reinsurance firms took the opportunity to deploy more capital at the mid-year renewals, while the ILS market is seeing increasing interest, as returns improved and investor appetite recovers, according to broker Gallagher Re’s CEO Tom Wakefield.

Commenting on the mid-year reinsurance renewals, Joe Monaghan, Global Growth Leader Reinsurance Solutions at Aon said that the market was more orderly, as capacity recovered somewhat, leading to stable conditions across both reinsurance and importantly retrocession.

US specialty insurance group Assurant has secured more catastrophe reinsurance protection for the year ahead at the mid-year renewal, with $1.28 billion of limit available for the United States, despite the fact its retentions have risen.

Lemonade, Inc., the high-profile insurtech, has successfully renewed its reinsurance program for the year ahead, keeping its quota share cession flat this time at 55%, but seeking efficiencies elsewhere by adding both Cayman and Bermuda based captive reinsurance structures.

Indicating that they do not feel reinsurance pricing will fall-back significantly from recent highs, even when new capital flows into the market, analysts at JMP Securities stated that reinsurers have found a new religion – the need for reinsurance to produce a reasonable level of return for stakeholders.

Tower Hill Insurance Exchange has renewed its Florida reinsurance tower at close to $2 billion in size, securing $120 million more limit than its expiring program.

The Florida reinsurance renewals on June 1st are all but done, according to sources and reports, with capacity availability far less of an issue than a year ago, or at the renewals completed earlier in 2023.

With the Florida reinsurance renewal now all but completed, broker Howden Tiger has said that risk-adjusted property- catastrophe reinsurance was pricing up by 33% on average at the 1 June renewals.