Sven Althoff, Member of the Executive Board for Property & Casualty at Hannover Re, said this morning that the reinsurer has the headroom to expand its nat cat book further but that growth would depend on market conditions at the January 1 renewals, amid a feeling that there will be some additional demand.
This morning, Hannover Re published a strong set of results for the first nine months of 2026, with a 7% rise in net income and a strong P&C reinsurance combined ratio as large losses came in under budget.
A strong new business CSM of €2.3 billion was driven by successful 2026 renewals, with Hannover Re explaining that it was able to write an increased profitable volume in the various rounds of treaty renewals this year, which partially offset price declines and exchange rate effects.
Looking ahead to the key, reportedly late January 1 2027 renewals, Althoff said that Hannover Re has created the headroom to potentially have further growth on the nat cat side, but added that given it’s unclear how the renewal is turning out at this stage, “it’s not an area which we will definitely grow.”
“We have only created the headroom in case we find the market conditions attractive to have further growth on the nat cat side, but it’s too early to give you an outlook on that side,” he said.
Later in the call, the reinsurer was questioned on whether it is seeing greater demand for reinsurance ahead of the 1.1 renewals.
“We have the feeling that there will be some, particularly if you compare that to the underwriting year 2026, where most clients decided to keep the savings they have achieved on the renewals to improve their net profitability,” said Althoff. “In 2027, we have heard more often that clients are minded to reinvest at least some of the anticipated savings, but how they do that is very client specific.”
According to Althoff, some are discussing purchasing more vertical limit, others are talking about trying to lower their retention levels, while some are exploring buying a little more on an aggregate basis.
“So, from that point of view, there seems to be a little more demand growth compared to 2026. But how exactly that will materialise, we will only know in a few weeks’ time,” he said.
