Christoph Jurecka, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of reinsurance giant Munich Re, has underlined the company’s ability to walk away from business where pricing is viewed as inadequate, but added that the P&C market is still attractive as the volume of business written by the reinsurer at the July renewals fell by 9.1%.
This morning, Munich Re announced a net result of €2.211 billion in the second quarter of 2026 and €3.925 billion in the first half of the year, resulting in an unchanged annual guidance of €6.3 billion.
Alongside its results, the carrier disclosed its July 1 reinsurance renewal outcome amid the softening environment, revealing a negative volume change of more than 9% to €2.1 billion, with a risk-adjusted price decline of -5.5%, comprised of a nominal price change of -4.4% and a business mix effect of -1.1%.
Year-to-date, so across the three renewal periods, Munich Re’s price change is -3.1%, compared with -2.5% in 2025.
During a recent call with analysts, CEO Jurecka commented on the firm’s experience at July 1, highlighting that discipline was again evident as Munich Re managed the portfolio consistently to optimise risk-adjusted returns.
“We withdrew from business with inadequate profitability, particularly in the XL segment, partly offset by new business opportunities in proportional and non-proportional business,” he said.
In Property XL, Munich Re says that it leveraged its strong balance sheet “in a still healthy market environment”, but also gave up business with inadequate profitability.
It’s a similar story for Casualty proportional, where the reinsurer pulled back from business that failed to meet its requirements, while simultaneously taking advantage of selective opportunities.
In Property proportional, the company also deliberately reduced in certain areas while selectively growing in others, notably in Latin America and the US.
In other lines of business, Munich Re cut back in Specialty lines and Casualty XL driven by active cycle management, but notes that profitability remains attractive.
“In essence, in July we saw no acceleration in rate softening compared to the April renewals,” said Jurecka.
He continued: “Pricing in XL business moderated by the same amount, while slightly higher declines in proportional business reflected the higher starting profitability in those markets renewing in July.
“In casualty business specifically, we have not accepted a meaningful increase in ceding commissions, but are still concerned about lost cost trends being greater than rate increases in the primary insurance market. Importantly, market discipline was largely maintained, with structures and wordings holding firm.”
According to the CEO, overall, “the market environment remains still quite attractive, and continues to offer healthy margins for the risks we assume.”
He went on to emphasise the importance of maintaining this discipline, stating that this requires the flexibility to redeploy capacity swiftly across geographies and perils.
“Munich Re has a clear competitive advantage in this respect, underpinned by its strong capitalisation, the global footprint, and deep client relationships,” he said.
