According to global reinsurance broker Howden Re, buyers of cyber reinsurance benefitted from favourable supply dynamics at the January 1st, 2026, renewals, supported by strong competition and a manageable loss environment.
Although there were several high-profile attacks on individual insureds and a number of systemic events, financial impacts were not material enough to shift pricing sentiment.
Luke Foord-Kelcey, Global Head of Cyber at Howden Re, said, “As the cyber market enters 2026, plentiful capacity and strong reinsurer appetite remain to the cedents’ advantage, manifesting in favourable terms and greater structural flexibility at renewals. Cedents that could demonstrate considered growth plans alongside disciplined underwriting – and an ability to stay ahead of an evolving threat landscape – were best received.”
Howden Re noted that most of the nine new reinsurers who entered the market at January 1st, 2025, bringing $250 million of new capacity, did not meet their deployment targets and reloaded for 2026, further adding to abundant capacity and competitive terms.
Strong profitability in excess of loss business and continued reinsurer appetite have offset thinning margins in quota share, with reinsurers attracted by the long-term growth opportunity in cyber reinsurance. These factors further tilted supply demand dynamics in favour of cedents.
“Ceding commissions on quota share business moved up by 1% to 1.5% for most buyers. Following increases of 3% to 4% since 2022- 23, most commission percentages have now reached the mid-30s range, where they are likely to stabilise unless the loss environment deteriorates. A loss-free year in the excess of loss market pushed global stop-loss pricing down by 15% to 20%, with sharper declines internationally than in the US, reflecting underlying performance and growth potential,” said Howden Re.
Buyers also showed increased interest in portfolio-level optimisation, exploring ways to monetise profitable parts of their books while still achieving capital relief. This drove the execution of new structures, including aggregate-of-event, variable quota share and per-risk excess of loss solutions.
