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.
Coronavirus prompts Fitch to revise European life to negative
20th March 2020
Fitch Ratings has revised its rating outlooks for the life insurance sectors in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK to Negative from Stable; the Italian life insurance sector remains negative. This revision is due to increased risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic and related impact on the credit quality of ... Read the full article
CAC Specialty, Fortress equipped to provide financing amid COVID-19
20th March 2020
Specialty insurance broker and investment banking platform CAC Specialty says it is equipped to provide financing for CAC clients facing liquidity pressure due to the direct and indirect impact from COVID-19, thanks to a previously-announced partnership with Fortress. The partnership with Fortress, which previously provided financing for the formation of CAC ... Read the full article
Despite the disruption, insurers expect limited BI claims from COVID-19: KBW
19th March 2020
It remains too early to estimate industry-wide business interruption (BI) losses from the COVID-19 outbreak, and while it's expected that some losses will materialise, insurers are expecting these to be limited, according to analysts at KBW. The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is having a significantly adverse impact on many businesses across numerous ... Read the full article
SCOR says re/insurers have expertise to understand COVID-19 impact
19th March 2020
Global reinsurer SCOR has called for industry-wide action to be taken over the unfolding coronavirus pandemic. SCOR’s executive committee described the re/insurance industry as having the mathematical expertise to understand the potential impact of the virus. SCOR described Life re/insurance in particular as having a unique alignment with the health and well-being ... Read the full article
Aegon sees no material adverse impacts on claims ratios from COVID-19
19th March 2020
Aegon, a provider of life insurance, pensions and asset management, has said that at this point, it has observed no material adverse impacts on claims ratios as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The announcement comes as part of an update on Aegon's capital position in light of the impact of ... Read the full article
Swiss Re confirms potential for buyback delay
19th March 2020
Swiss Re has confirmed that there is potential for its previously announced share buyback to be delayed, owing to the ongoing uncertainty around the financial market due to COVID-19. The reinsurer said that it will still seek authorisation for the CHF 1 billion public share buyback program at its annual general ... Read the full article
Coronavirus BI exposure remains “very manageable”, says Zurich CFO
19th March 2020
Zurich has started to see some coronavirus-related Business Interruption claims, but based on its exposures is expecting it to be very manageable in a group context. George Quinn, Zurich’s Chief Financial Officer, has explained that for these claims to pay out the company not only needs to see exposure to the ... Read the full article
UK’s £350bn bailout to ease default risk on investments: Peel Hunt
19th March 2020
Analysts at Peel Hunt believe the default risk for re/insurers’ investment portfolios has been lowered by the UK Government’s decision to introduce a £350 billion emergency package of financial measures to support businesses affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed the measures on Tuesday, which include £330 billion ... Read the full article
Italy adjusts Solvency II rules to help insurers endure coronavirus
19th March 2020
In response to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), the Italian Government has reduced the requirements for applying a country-specific volatility adjustment to strengthen Italian insurers’ regulatory Solvency II ratios. The measure is part of a decree aimed at mitigating coronavirus pandemic-related effects, including economic contraction, materially slowing business activity, falling equity ... Read the full article
COVID-19 driven market disruption main threat to European reinsurers: Fitch
18th March 2020
Financial market disruption stemming from the spread of the coronavirus is the main threat to the credit profiles of European reinsurers, Fitch Ratings analysts say. Furthermore, downgrades could be on the horizon should earnings weaken and capital headroom erode as a result of prolonged stress on equity and credit markets and ... Read the full article
Coronavirus puts Swiss Re share buyback at risk: JP Morgan
18th March 2020
Given that Swiss Re is likely to see significant mark-to-market losses on equity accounted investments in the first quarter of 2020, as well as the ongoing uncertainty to the financial market outlook on COVID-19, analysts at JP Morgan see a substantial risk that the reinsurer's previously-announced buyback will not be ... Read the full article
AM Best to develop COVID-19 stress tests for re/insurers
18th March 2020
Rating agency AM Best has revealed that it is in the process of developing stress testing that it will use to gauge the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on its rated re/insurance companies. The tests will aim to measure the effect of the pandemic on re/insurers’ balance sheets, including on ... Read the full article
AM Best turns negative on US life/annuity market amid COVID-19 uncertainty
18th March 2020
Global ratings agency A.M. Best has revised its market segment outlook on the U.S. life/annuity segment to negative from stable, driven by the significant volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 virus. The two main drivers of the revision to negative are the material ... Read the full article
Bermuda extends filing deadline for insurers, waives need for physical board meetings
18th March 2020
In light of the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has granted a one-month filing extension for re/insurers, and has waived the need for physical board meetings to take place. The Bermudian regulator has had a Business Continuity Plan in place since February 6th in order ... Read the full article
COVID-19 BI legislation held by NJ Assembly, higher premiums a concern
18th March 2020
It's been reported that Bill A-3844, which would require business interruption policies to cover losses caused by the COVID-19 outbreak at certain businesses in New Jersey, has not been passed into law. As we reported yesterday, New Jersey Legislature was today scheduled to discuss a bill designed to force insurance ... Read the full article