Hiscox Re & ILS net insurance contract written premium grew 17.9% in H1 2023 to $345.1 million, which the firm said was underpinned by strong double-digit growth in the North American natural catastrophe, retrocession and marine books.
Hiscox highlighted that its Re & ILS segment continued to benefit from the hard market conditions, deploying incremental capital to grow exposure and improve the quality of the book.
Hiscox Re & ILS reported an undiscounted combined ratio of 81.2%, which marked an 11.6 percentage point improvement on the prior year period. The firm noted that this “reflects the quality of growth being achieved.”
The Re & ILS business also grew natural catastrophe exposure at a double-digit rate while also moving up in layers in H1, further derisking the bottom line from attritional or low-severity events.
Hiscox added, “While the exceptional conditions seen at January renewals have eased, the momentum in the market remains strong.
“A slight slowdown from the growth seen in the first quarter is due to our decision to keep exposure flat in Japan, where we are already at our target market share, and in Florida, where we grew exposure only slightly, due to the complex underwriting and legislative environment.”
Hiscox Re & ILS saw an H1 2023 profit of $55.1 million, while the insurance service result also improved to $32.7 million from $10.9 million in the same quarter last year.
Turning to Hiscox’s group-wide results, net insurance contract written premiums increased by 11.4% in constant currency to $1,945.6 million, as the firm benefited from strategy execution, a positive rate environment across all business segments, and capital allocation decisions.
Meanwhile, Hiscox’s group-wide insurance service result (or underwriting profits) increased by a substantial 57.9% to $221.4 million.
The firm attributed this to a combination of disciplined growth and margin expansion in a favourable underwriting environment.
Hiscox also boasted growth in revenues, insurance service result and profits in every business unit, which resulted in annualised ROE of 19.9%.
The firm’s profit before tax increased by $239.4 million to $264.8 million, while total net reserves for loss events in H1 2023 were in line with its expectations.
Hiscox’s capital position in H1 was “strong”, with an estimated Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement of 199%, in line with the full year 2022 result, despite having deployed capital into the favourable market conditions which it says continue to persist.
The firm’s H1 investment result of $121.8 million was also positive, much improved compared to the H1 2022 loss of $214.1 million.
Aki Hussain, Group Chief Executive Officer, Hiscox Ltd, commented, “Our business has delivered growth in revenues and profits in every business unit, as our proactive and disciplined underwriting and favourable market conditions come together.
“Our portfolio of businesses, our people and innovation to meet the changing needs of our customers position us well to continue delivering high-quality growth and earnings.”
