Bermuda-based insurer and reinsurer, Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., has announced catastrophe and pandemic-related losses of an estimated $47 million for the first-quarter of 2021, primarily as a result of winter storm Uri in the U.S.
Argo estimates that approximately $43 million of its first-quarter catastrophe bill relates to the impacts or Uri.
Of these catastrophe losses, roughly half are attributable to the firm’s International Operations, which includes losses related to Ariel Re that was sold in 2020 to private equity investors Pelican Ventures and J.C. Flowers & Co.
Additionally, Argo expects its Q1 2021 result to be adversely affected by $4 million of net losses related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, primarily related to contingency exposures in the company’s International Operations.
These loss estimates from Argo are pre-tax and net of reinsurance recoveries. Ahead of its Q1 results announcement, the re/insurer warns that its actual losses “may ultimately differ materially from estimated losses due to the nature of the risks assumed, the complexity of the assessment of damages and the number of reported claims received to date.”
