Reinsurance renewals news

Global insurance and reinsurance giant Zurich has exhausted its aggregate catastrophe reinsurance protection during the third-quarter, as significant losses from hurricane Ida and the European floods took their toll.

Conditions in the catastrophe bond market look positive still in 2021, as year-end fast approaches, with both the pipeline for new cat bond issuance and the capital flows to cat bond fund managers healthy, signalling a favourable bond market environment, according to Aon.

Given the heavy catastrophe loss activity and the challenges this has placed on some alternative capital market players, it is too early to tell how the retrocessional reinsurance renewals may pan out, according to Munich Re CFO Christoph Jurecka.

Clear signals on the price adequacy of property catastrophe risks, under the shadow of rising climate exposures, continue to come to light, with the latest being the final letter from Alleghany CEO Weston Hicks to his shareholders.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA’s) Actuarial & Underwriting Committee met yesterday to review proposals for reinsurance broking services and has voted to recommend the TWIA Board approve a change to Willis Re, which also has ramifications for the issuance of its catastrophe bonds.

Conduit Re, a Class of 2021 reinsurance start-up that raised close to $1.1 billion of capital in an initial public offering (IPO) and listing before it began underwriting, highlighted the importance of its retrocession in buffering its results against the impacts of hurricane Ida.

Hiscox Re & ILS, the international reinsurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) arm of the Hiscox Group, is expecting an improved rate environment at the key January 2022 renewal seasons, which could lead to further net growth as it takes advantage of the best rates in years in some areas of its business.

The global reinsurance sector outlook remains negative, according to S&P Global Ratings, as returns for the sector still fall short and the industry continues to battle against its commoditization, in particular from non-traditional capital.

French mutual insurer Covéa has now agreed and signed a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire Bermuda headquartered global reinsurer PartnerRe from Italian holding company EXOR, at the same $9 billion valuation as had been on the cards in the deal that fell-apart in 2020.

Global reinsurance company SCOR is set to take a range of actions to lower its catastrophe volatility in the United States and will look to alternative retrocession products for 2022, as the company acknowledges capacity for certain retro solutions may be more limited, according to Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of SCOR Global P&C.