Bermuda domiciled reinsurer PartnerRe reported a non-life underwriting profit of $507 million for 2021, which was reflected in its improved combined ratio of 90.5% compared to a combined ratio of 106.0% for the fourth quarter and full year of 2020.
Large catastrophic losses totalled $66 million for the fourth quarter of 2021, which was related to the refinement of estimates on Hurricane Ida, Winter Storm Uri, the European Floods and related losses under aggregated covers.
Ultimately, this has an impact on the P&C and Specialty combined ratios by 5.4 points and 3.5 points, respectively, compared to large catastrophic losses of 1.1 points and 4.9 points on the P&C and Specialty combined ratios for the same quarter of 2020 from COVID-19 and Hurricane Laura.
Large catastrophic losses were $483 million for the full year 2021 and included losses for Hurricane Ida, Winter Storm Uri, the European Floods, and related losses under aggregate covers, which adversely impacted the P&C and Specialty combined ratios by 12.1 points and 3.3 points.
PartnerRe President and Chief Executive Officer Jacques Bonneau commented, “In an active year of catastrophic losses for the industry we were able to achieve strong performance in 2021.
“We grew gross written premiums by 19%, driven by meaningful rate increases in lines like casualty and professional lines and we also benefited from improved economic activity in other lines of business.
“Our non-life combined ratio improved by 15.5 points to 90.5% driven by our continuous focus on portfolio optimization.
“We built on the momentum we’ve established with a successful January 1, 2022 renewal, providing solutions to our business partners while maintaining the strength and stability of our platform.
“Our approach remains disciplined, supported by third party capital, and we will grow exposures in lines where it is supported by rate.
“We look forward to the year ahead and to further increasing the value that we provide to all of our clients, capital partners and shareholders.”
