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.
AM Best stays negative on Chinese non-life
16th December 2020
Rating agency AM Best has opted to maintain its negative outlook on the Chinese non-life re/insurance market, partly due to the impact of motor reform on premium growth and underwriting performance. Alongside this reform are execution risks and negative profitability impact arising from expansion of non-motor lines, although this could be ... Read the full article
AM Best expects “more measured” use of alternative capital
14th December 2020
Analysts at AM Best are confident that third-party capital will continue to play an important role in the re/insurance industry, but they anticipate that the use of alternative capital structures will be “more measured” in future. As part of its Global Reinsurance Market Outlook, the rating agency noted that the catastrophic ... Read the full article
AM Best ends IRB Brasil Re review as management improves
10th December 2020
Am Best has removed IRB Brasil Re’s ‘under review with negative implications’ status following improvements in the company’s enterprise risk management (ERM) and underwriting practices. The rating agency also affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of IRB, although the outlook of ... Read the full article
AM Best stays negative on US commercial lines
9th December 2020
Rating agency AM Best has opted to maintain its negative outlook on the US commercial lines industry for 2021, citing uncertainty about the economic fallout from COVID-19 and the re-emergence of social inflation as courts reopen. Analysts noted that the commercial lines industry has shown resilience in a year of abnormally ... Read the full article
Australian BI verdict to drive uncertainty for insurers: AM Best
30th November 2020
AM Best has warned that pandemic business interruption (BI) coverage will continue to represent a significant source of uncertainty for Australian commercial insurers following the verdict of legal test case in the country. The New South Wales Court of Appeal sided unanimously against the arguments made by insurers in its ruling. The ... Read the full article
AM Best provides US P&C impairment update
12th November 2020
Rating agency AM Best identified thirteen new insurance company impairments in the US property and casualty (P&C) industry in 2019, which was two more than in the previous year. A new report found that four impairments of medical professional liability writers and another four commercial auto writers led the 2019 impairments. Overall, ... Read the full article
AM Best turns negative on Singapore Re
9th November 2020
Rating agency AM Best has revised its outlook for Singapore Reinsurance Corporation Limited (Singapore Re) from stable to negative, reflecting increasing pressure on the firm’s business profile assessment. In particular, analysts noted that Singapore Re may be overly reliant on a small number of concentrated local cedants, some of which have ... Read the full article
COVID health caution helps insurers to record profits in Q2: AM Best
4th November 2020
According to analysts at AM Best, health insurers reported record profits during the second quarter of 2020 despite the pandemic, due to deferral of care and an increased reluctance to visit healthcare providers. The healthcare industry faced many unforeseen challenges and changes in early 2020 due to the onset of the ... Read the full article
Established brands to benefit from FCA’s pricing proposals: AM Best
16th October 2020
Analysts at AM Best believe that insurers with strong brands and market reputation will be the most likely winners of the FCA’s recent proposals to tackle unfair pricing practices. Last month, the UK regulator announced a series of interventions that aim to stop insurers hiking the price of motor and ... Read the full article
COVID wordings gap could hurt some insurers: AM Best
14th October 2020
Analysts at AM Best have warned that gaps in policy wording around the COVID-19 pandemic could still hurt some primary insurers, despite recent efforts to exclude coverage. The rating agency noted that reinsurers were quick to react with exclusionary language during the mid-year renewals, due to concerns about the aggregation of ... Read the full article
AM Best lends weight to pandemic backstop agenda
13th October 2020
Rating agency AM Best has become the latest industry body to voice support for tackling future pandemic risk through public-private partnership. In a new report, analysts noted that insurers are likely to face significant reserve uncertainty arising from the current accident year due to the challenge of estimating COVID-19 losses. Social inflation, ... Read the full article
AM Best reports mixed credit rating changes over H1
6th October 2020
Analysts at AM Best say credit rating activity was mixed over the first half of 2020 with upgrades mostly outnumbering downgrades. Nevertheless, the rating agency found that the percentage of upgrades for US P&C carriers’ Issuer Credit Ratings through mid-year 2020 were down modestly, to 5.1% of rating actions, compared with ... Read the full article
AM Best confirms SCOR ratings
28th September 2020
AM Best has decided to confirm the Financial Strength Rating and Issuer Credit Rating of SCOR as ‘A+ Superior’ and ‘aa-‘, respectively. The rating agency said the move reflects SCOR’s strong balance sheet strength, as well as its operating performance, very favourable business profile and enterprise risk management. In particular, analysts noted ... Read the full article
AM Best forecasts downturn in Caribbean insurance growth
22nd September 2020
AM Best has forecast that Caribbean property and casualty (P&C) insurers could see a reversal of their recent positive growth trends due to the socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with rising reinsurance rates. The rating agency noted that the coronavirus crisis has been “a catastrophe for the entire Caribbean ... Read the full article
Underwriting income for US P&C fell by 5.5% in H1, says AM Best
7th September 2020
Underwriting income for the U.S. property and casualty (P&C) industry fell by 5.5% in the first half of 2020 when compared with the first half of 2019, on increases in underwriting expenses and policyholder dividends, mostly related to the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, reports A.M. Best. In a new ... Read the full article
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