Reinsurance News
A.M. Best news
News featuring rating agency A.M. Best, including the latest reports, rating actions and analysis from the company, as well as news on A.M. Best’s analysis of the reinsurance sector.
Rate of European reinsurance purchase to gradually decline: A.M. Best
25th April 2017
Commenting on A.M. Best's latest market briefings, senior director, Carlos Wong-Fupuy, said the trend of large European insurers increasingly ceding business to reinsurers to offset soft market conditions and Solvency II requirements is expected to slow in the coming year. European insurers had been relying on reinsurance to enlarge their capacity for product ... Read the full article
Market conditions drive Bermudian re/insurers to innovate: A.M. Best
19th April 2017
Tough market conditions have driven Bermudian re/insurers to explore new lines of business, with the most recent trend being a move towards mortgage re/insurance, said A.M. Best Senior Financial Analyst Scott Mangan, in the firm's latest market trends report. The rating agency previously reported a Bermudian market pivot towards primary and ... Read the full article
M&A activity looms over Bermudian market: A.M. Best
4th April 2017
M&A activity “looms” over the Bermudian market as global re/insurers look to grow their books in a market where fresh underwriting ground is becoming increasingly scarce, A.M. Best analysts said in their recent report on Bermudian market trends. Analysts said conditions in Bermuda were “ripe” for more M&A activity, although questions which ... Read the full article
Demand surged in German non-life reinsurance: A.M. Best
31st March 2017
Demand for non-life reinsurance in Germany has surged at a rate that nearly doubles cedants' gross written premiums (GWP) growth, said A.M. Best in a report on Germany's 20 largest cedants' reinsurance purchasing trends. The global rating agency said the last full-year data available showed "Germany’s 20 largest cedants collectively posted a 13.1% ... Read the full article
Bermudian re/insurers’ profitability wears thin under negative market trends: A.M. Best
30th March 2017
Bermudian re/insurer's profitability margins are wearing dangerously thin after years of steady deterioration, despite the market's attempts to adapt to the current environment with a pivot towards primary and alternative classes of business and increased retrocession purchase. A.M. Best identified growing negative trends in Bermuda's Market Composite in its latest report, saying ... Read the full article
Re/insurers’ future in combining risk reduction and transfer: RMS Exceedance conference
29th March 2017
Speaking to A.M. BestTV at the RMS Exceedance 2017 conference, insurers and risk modelers said risk professionals are shifting their focus to emphasize risk reduction as part of a more comprehensive insurance cover plan. Robert Muir Wood, RMS, said the future of insurance was in “how you combine risk reduction and risk ... Read the full article
European insurers reinsurance use up, but at a more cautious pace; A.M. Best
20th March 2017
Europe’s 20 largest cedants have significantly increased reinsurance purchases in the last two years as soft market conditions drive insurers to pass on higher levels of risk, according to A.M. Best analysis of market trends in its newly released report. The agency said Solvency II requirements and carriers expanding into new ... Read the full article
Ogden rate change further pressures unprofitable UK motor sector: A.M. Best
7th March 2017
UK motor insurers and reinsurers are expected to experience the greatest impact from the Ogden discount rate cut to -0.75% by the UK government, a move that A.M. Best expects to drive a high reserve charge for re/insurers and further pressure a market that struggles for profitability. International rating agency A.M. Best believed ... Read the full article
Trump, Brexit, & regulatory risk changes & concerns: A.M. Best
17th February 2017
Reinsurers on either side of the Atlantic have been watching in trepidation as the global political agenda takes an increasingly protectionist stance, A.M. Best highlighted key concerns in a recent report, outlining how these changing regulations have impacted the insurance and reinsurance industry. The rating agency's analysts examined some of the ... Read the full article
Re/insurers in Middle East see drop in credit ratings: A.M. Best
8th February 2017
Reinsurers and insurers in the Middle East have seen a slight drop in credit ratings, largely due to lower market demand brought on by a sluggish economy, according to A.M. Best’s 2016 performance report. “Commercial activity is highly correlated to oil demand and the recent period of low energy prices has depressed ... Read the full article
Challenging for Western EU reinsurers to deploy excess capital: A.M. Best
3rd February 2017
Insurers and reinsurers across Western Europe have been able to bolster their capital positions thanks to the abundance of efficient traditional and alternative reinsurance capital, but the ability to deploy excess capacity in an extremely competitive marketplace remains, according to A.M. Best. International financial services rating agency, A.M. Best, in a ... Read the full article
Gulf Re goes into run-off, ratings removed by A.M. Best
2nd February 2017
International rating agency A.M. Best has withdrawn the ratings of Gulf Reinsurance Limited (Gulf Re). The Dubai-based company is in run-off and ceased writing new business from November 1st, 2016. Gulf Re, a subsidiary of Arch Reinsurance Ltd (Arch Re) operated as a specialist reinsurance company, underwriting a portfolio mainly made ... Read the full article
Re/insurers playing a potentially “dangerous” underwriting game: A.M. Best
1st February 2017
In a review of highlights from A.M. Best’s annual report for the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) insurance industry, the rating agency warned of insurance and reinsurance companies playing a potentially “dangerous game” of loosening up underwriting standards after seeing a spike in investment income. One of the major concerns of the current ... Read the full article
European re/insurers advised to focus on M&A consolidation: A.M. Best
31st January 2017
A.M. Best has named M&A activity as the main factor affecting Western European insurers and reinsurers credit ratings last year, and while this trend is expected to continue throughout 2017, the rating agency has recommended firms focus on consolidating gains. Despite tough market conditions of low investment yields and an increasingly ... Read the full article
U.S. life reinsurance fundamentals remain stable: A.M. Best
27th January 2017
The fundamentals of the U.S. life reinsurance market remain stable, as the defensible positions of the five large reinsurers writing the majority of U.S. mortality risks characterise the sector, according to A.M. Best. Life reinsurance in the U.S. is not as competitive as in some other regions of the world, such ... Read the full article
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