Reinsurance News
Coronavirus news
Coronavirus news coverage of relevance to reinsurance and insurance markets.
All of our Covid-19 coronavirus news, analysis and insight related to insurance and reinsurance market impacts can be found below.
The coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic of 2019-20 resulted in significant disruption and threatened losses widely across the insurance and reinsurance markets.
Totus Re warns UK Gov against narrow focus on pandemic risk
25th June 2020
Totus Re, an open collective to help plan coverage for catastrophic pan-economic events, has warned the UK Government against taking a single peril view to societal risk following the COVID-19 pandemic. In a new statement, Totus Re expressed support for the UK’s Pandemic Re steering group, but said that current plans ... Read the full article
Arch Capital raising $1bn with senior debt issuance
25th June 2020
Bermuda-based re/insurer Arch Capital Group has priced $1 billion of 3.635% senior notes as it looks to raise funds for general corporate purposes. This move effectively sees Arch join a number of other companies looking to capitalise on a firming re/insurance marketplace. For Arch, raising capital could be considered important following ... Read the full article
Insurtech may offer insurers a route out of the pandemic
24th June 2020
New research by Cass Business School has outlined how insurtech may offer a route out of the pandemic for insurance companies. It's suggested that Covid-19 will act as a catalyst for the industry-wide adoption of new digital initiatives in the insurance industry. They also suggest that the pandemic has uncovered the value ... Read the full article
NN Group anticipates €100mn COVID-19 impact to 2020 results
24th June 2020
Dutch insurer NN Group has said that it is anticipating a €100 million impact to its 2020 operating result due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company stated ahead of its investor day that the impact of the pandemic on claims has been limited so far, due to its limited exposure to ... Read the full article
Premier League rules out pandemic insurance moving forward: reports
24th June 2020
The Premier League will not be taking out pandemic insurance to guard against the financial implications an event similar to coronavirus could have on future seasons, according to reports from The Independent. The 2019-20 season returned this week following a three-month suspension due to the pandemic. The Independent says clubs have already ... Read the full article
Berenberg estimates global COVID-19 claims at $50-70bn
23rd June 2020
Analysts at investment bank Berenberg have estimated that global re/insurance claims related to the COVID-19 pandemic will be between $50 billion and $70 billion. Notably, this range is well below the $107 billion estimate put forward by Lloyd’s of London back in May. “Fundamentally, insurers are doing well,” Berenberg stated in ... Read the full article
Munich Re opts against providing fresh profit guidance for 2020 on COVID-19
23rd June 2020
Global reinsurance giant Munich Re has said that while it continues to stand on firm economic footing, the losses and uncertainty being caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic means that it will not meet its previously announced profit guidance for 2020. The reinsurer announced on April 1st, 2020 that it ... Read the full article
AM Best warns against COVID-19 workers’ compensation laws
23rd June 2020
AM Best has warned that legal efforts in several US states to expand workers’ compensation coverage to allow employees to claim for COVID-19 will have a negative impact on re/insurers. The rating agency turned negative on workers’ compensation lines back in March due to the economic conditions and rise in unemployment ... Read the full article
US commercial insurer capital will cover COVID-19 uncertainty, says Fitch
22nd June 2020
A new report from Fitch Ratings states that commercial line insurers' longer-term stability in financial performance and capital strength suggests an ability to withstand stress from adverse events, including catastrophes, adverse reserve development and asset market volatility. Fitch Ratings’ managing director James Auden notes how commercial insurers continue to benefit from ... Read the full article
Title insurers sufficiently capitalised to weather COVID-19: Fitch
19th June 2020
Although revenues in the US title insurance space will inevitably suffer due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting fallout, capitalisation levels will likely be adequate to weather to storm. This is according to analysts at Fitch Ratings, which recently analysed the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the title insurance ... Read the full article
Insurtech growth to remain unaltered by COVID-19: Aon COO
19th June 2020
While investment in insurtech has seemingly been slowed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the macro growth trend in this space will likely remain unaltered by the crisis. This is according to John G. Bruno, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Aon plc and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Data & Analytic Services, ... Read the full article
Reliance on investments leaves re/insurers vulnerable: GlobalData
19th June 2020
Strong reliance on investments throughout the insurance and reinsurance industry makes the sector particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying economic turbulence, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. The firm noted that re/insurers’ balance sheets are increasingly under pressure due to the combination of volatility in financial markets, ... Read the full article
Pandemic backstops impactful, but structure up for debate: survey results
18th June 2020
The results of the second COVID-19 survey by Reinsurance News show that the market broadly recognises the need for government supported backstop reinsurance schemes for future pandemics. Asked about their view on this issue, 41.7% of respondents to the survey said backstop schemes are definitely helpful, ... Read the full article
German gov assists ARC members with €19mn COVID-19 support programme
18th June 2020
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the German government has committed to assume premium payments of approximately €19 million for the drought insurance offered by the African Risk Capacity (ARC). In a recent video message, Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development ... Read the full article
Infrastructure investment key for emerging markets post COVID-19: Swiss Re
17th June 2020
Investment in infrastructure development is set to be one of the main drivers of sustainable growth in the emerging markets after the COVID-19 crisis subsides, according to Swiss Re’s latest Sigma report. Emerging markets are expected to invest $2.2 trillion in infrastructure annually over the next 20 years, equal to 3.9% ... Read the full article
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