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.
M&A environment still favourable for health insurers: AM Best
6th May 2021
The environment for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among U.S. health insurers remains favorable as they continue to seek out diversification and growth opportunities, according to analysts at AM Best. The rating agency noted in a recent report that health insurers reported record earnings and accumulated a significant amount of cash in ... Read the full article
Tremor approved to redistribute AM Best ratings within Panorama
4th May 2021
Programmatic re/insurance risk transfer marketplace, Tremor Technologies, has been granted the rights to redistribute Best’s Credit Ratings as part of Panorama, its recently launched trading platform. The credit ratings by AM Best will be continuously updated within Panorama to provide critical ratings information to buyers of reinsurance protection using the ... Read the full article
COVID spurs P&C insurers to return $13bn in premiums: AM Best
21st April 2021
Analysts at AM Best have reported that US property and casualty (P&C) insurers returned roughly $12.9 billion in premiums over 2020 due to a reduction in exposures following the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, stay-at-home restrictions reduced the amount of travel across the US last year, which resulted in a significant reduction ... Read the full article
Auto insurers lead US P&C impairments: AM Best
16th April 2021
Analysts at AM Best identified seven insurance company impairments in the US property and casualty (P&C) industry, which was six fewer than in the previous year. The rating agency noted that five of the impairments involved auto insurers, with the remaining two a workers’ compensation insurer with business written primarily in ... Read the full article
AM Best notes rising prominence of DUAE model
8th April 2021
In a new report, rating agency AM Best has noted the “rising prominence” of the delegated underwriting authority enterprise (DUAE) model in the insurance industry distribution ecosystem. Analysts said that the success of this model was evident in the growing number of managing general agents (MGAs) and the amount of MGA-generated ... Read the full article
Mexico industry capital strong despite credit quality downswing: AM Best
8th April 2021
AM Best expects Mexico’s insurance companies to remain able to meet regulatory capital requirements despite a downswing in the credit quality of its fixed-income investments. The downswing is being driven by action on the country’s sovereign debt rating and issues at its heavily indebted oil company, the rating agency noted. However, on ... Read the full article
AM Best stays negative on UK non-life
7th April 2021
AM Best has opted to maintain its negative outlook on the UK non-life re/insurance segment, citing economic uncertainty as a key headwind. Further considerations included COVID-19 lockdown measures that coincided with the country’s preparation to leave the European single market. Together, these factors have created the biggest economic contraction on record and ... Read the full article
US life & annuity still faces challenges, says AM Best
17th March 2021
Analysts at AM Best have warned that the US life and annuity (L/A) sector still faces significant challenges despite weathering the COVID-19 pandemic so far. The rating agency noted that most US L/A companies remain well capitalised and have benefited from favorable mortality and morbidity experience, low credit impairments and rebounding ... Read the full article
E&S outlook improves to stable: AM Best
5th March 2021
AM Best has revised its outlook for the US excess and surplus (E&S) lines market segment from negative to stable, due to its ongoing profitability and premium growth. The rating agency acknowledged that the E&S market still faces uncertainty due to the impact of COVID-19 on the US and global economies, ... Read the full article
Capital inflows could dampen positive pricing momentum, says A.M. Best
26th February 2021
The inflow of new capital into the industry on the back of improving market conditions could have a detrimental effect on price improvements, although a number of "moving parts" could also have an influence, according to analysis by A.M. Best. The combination of heavy catastrophe loss years, the lower for longer ... Read the full article
Solvency II proposals will create “winners and losers,” says AM Best
15th February 2021
Analysts at AM Best believe that new Solvency II proposals put forward by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) will give rise to both “winners and losers” in the European re/insurance market. The proposals are EIOPA’s response to the European Commission’s request for advice arising from its mandatory review ... Read the full article
Gamestop drama will increase social inflation pressures: AM Best
5th February 2021
Analysts at AM Best have argued that the recent stock market frenzy and social media outrage surrounding GameStop, AMD, AMC and other stock could cause an increase in class action lawsuits. The rating agency noted that disclosures provided by Robinhood will be under intense scrutiny by lawyers. And although it may be ... Read the full article
Reinsurers to bear more BI costs as COVID losses mount: AM Best
2nd February 2021
Analysts at AM Best have warned that reinsurers are likely to bear a higher proportion of business interruption (BI) claims as COVID losses continue to mount and insurers exceed their retentions. In the UK, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on pandemic BI claims brought greater clarity to the sector, but the ... Read the full article
LTC performance adds pressure to life re/insurers: AM Best
22nd January 2021
AM Best has reported that continued poor performance from inadequate pricing is a significant issue for US long-term care (LTC) re/insurers, owing to low interest rates, improving mortality, rising morbidity and policyholder utilisation assumptions. The rating agency noted that loss ratios in the “beleaguered” LTC market continue to climb, with individual ... Read the full article
COVID-induced premium drop hits P&C re/insurers: AM Best
17th December 2020
AM Best has reported a reduction in property and casualty (P&C) re/insurance premiums this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The drop in premiums runs counter to the overall industry trend, which had seen premium volume rise for most of the 33 P&C lines through to the end of 2019. But stay-at-home ... Read the full article
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