Reinsurance renewals news

New Zealand’s state-owned residential property disaster insurance entity, Toka Tū Ake EQC (formerly known as the Earthquake Commission), does not expect the recent floods and cyclone will trigger its reinsurance, but as it thinks about how to navigate more challenging renewals this year, the EQC is more closely considering catastrophe bonds.

Australian primary insurer and global re/insurance group QBE is set to retain more risk through 2023, as its reinsurance renewal saw the resulting coverage shrink, with the catastrophe aggregate smaller, certain layers non-renewed and all at higher costs.

For global reinsurance firm Swiss Re, a reported 18% average increase in property and casualty prices for business underwritten at the key January 2023 renewals more than offset higher loss assumptions of 13%, while the company has also been dealing with inflation.

American International Group (AIG) had a successful reinsurance renewals at January 2023, according to CEO Peter Zaffino, who said that the company improved on some of its terms, secured $500 million of aggregate cover and overall obtained $6 billion of property catastrophe reinsurance limit.

RenaissanceRe, the global reinsurance firm and third-party capital management specialist, saw its third-party capital assets under management dedicated to property and casualty business rise by $610 million since September 30th 2022, with the total reaching a new high at January 1st 2023.

The staff of the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) are working with reinsurance broker Gallagher Re and its capital markets unit Gallagher Securities, to reset its existing $700 million of catastrophe bonds, renew a soon to mature $400 million cat bond deal, and begin discussions with reinsurers about its renewal needs.

While new capital was seen to flow to some retrocessional reinsurance opportunities around the January 2023 renewals, the pace is not keeping up with outflows or demand for protection, Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions explained recently.

The same reinsurance renewal pressures experienced at the January renewals this year are anticipated to persist for the April and July 1st renewal seasons for buyers in Asia Pacific, according to Aon Reinsurance Solutions APAC CEO George Attard.

European headquartered re/insurer Zurich opted not to renew its global aggregate catastrophe treaty for 2023 at the recent renewals, but did add a $200 million U.S. earthquake swap, and a new $300 million top cat layer to its programme for the year ahead.

Hannover Re expects to be able to benefit from its robust retrocession arrangements through the rest of the reinsurance renewals in 2023, as this enlarged source of partner capital, topped off by the biggest ever K-Cessions sidecar placement, will help the reinsurer offer more capacity without increasing its own net risk appetite.