Reinsurance News
COVID-19 news
News about the impact of the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and how it affected insurance and reinsurance markets.
Moody’s turns negative on global reinsurance
8th September 2020
Financial services ratings agency Moody's has changed its outlook on the global reinsurance sector to negative from stable. The firm points to coronavirus-related losses and other catastrophe events in 2020 that have already depleted the annual catastrophe loss budgets of many players. Despite stronger reinsurance pricing, low interest rates and shrinking reserve ... Read the full article
Aon sets up coalition in Singapore to aid economic recovery
8th September 2020
Re/insurance broker Aon has formed a new coalition of companies in Singapore to focus on aiding social and economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows the launch of similar coalitions in Chicago and New York and in London, and plans are underway for another in ... Read the full article
Insurance Europe sees key industry opportunities in COVID-19 pandemic
8th September 2020
A new report by Insurance Europe considers a number of industry takeaways from COVID-19 as opportunities for re/insurers to evolve and strengthen against future challenges. For example, COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of clear contractual wording and, more broadly, confirmed that the information provision to consumers is both key and an area ... Read the full article
COVID-19 resilience sees AM Best assign stable outlook on Taiwanese non-life
8th September 2020
AM Best has assigned a stable outlook to the Taiwan non-life insurance market and underlined how the country has, relative to its peers, remained resilient to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first half of 2020, AM Best says total non-life insurance direct premium written (DPW) grew by 6.4% year ... Read the full article
European insurers expecting COVID-19 to accelerate digital innovation: analysts
7th September 2020
A new survey conducted by tech research and advisory firm, Information Services Group, has found that over 90% of European insurers are expecting COVID-19 to accelerate digital innovations in the industry. 86% of the continent's insurance executives surveyed by ISG expect customer behaviour to change significantly due to the COVID-19 crisis. Over 95% fully or ... Read the full article
Aon unveils coalition to support COVID-19 recovery phase
7th September 2020
As society continues to move towards the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, insurance and reinsurance broker Aon has announced the establishment of a coalition of leading London-based businesses, designed to develop key recommendations and guidelines on how companies can operate. The London Work, Travel & Convene Coalition, convened and led ... Read the full article
Further trade credit losses for re/insurers in 2020, 2021: AM Best
7th September 2020
As a result of the ongoing global economic crisis, AM Best is anticipating further trade credit losses for both insurers and reinsurers across 2020 and into 2021. Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, announced in May that the UK Government would move ahead with the scheme following several weeks ... Read the full article
Heightened reinsurance demand a long-term trend: Fitch
4th September 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a surge in demand for reinsurance and according to analysis by Fitch Ratings, this is no short-term trend. Speaking for the ratings agency in its Mid-Year 2020 Financial Results EMEA webinar was Brian Schneider, Fitch Ratings’ Senior Director and Global Head of Reinsurance. As primary insurers ... Read the full article
2020 a critical year for reinsurers: AM Best
3rd September 2020
AM Best analysts have described why, in terms of both challenges and opportunities, 2020 is a critical year for reinsurers. Current hardening pricing conditions are said to be creating a window of opportunity for reinsurers, with property catastrophe, specialty lines, and some US casualty lines showing much-needed improvement in pricing and ... Read the full article
COVID-19 reinforces Lloyd’s need to modernise: AM Best
3rd September 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of modernising Lloyd's and helped soften some of the cultural resistance to change, according to analysts at AM Best. As part of its execution plans for the first phase of strategy, Lloyd’s confirmed earlier this year that it was aiming to take a ... Read the full article
Reinsurer results weakening as COVID claims intensify: Moody’s
2nd September 2020
Analysts at Moody’s consider the earnings of the global reinsurance sector to be weak over the first half of 2020, due to the increase in coronavirus claims. Although investment returns rebounded in the second quarter of the year, COVID-19 claims also increased significantly over this period, Moody’s noted. One bright spot was ... Read the full article
LIIBA CEO Croft welcomes reopening of the underwriting room at Lloyd’s
1st September 2020
Christopher Croft, CEO of broker body LIIBA, has welcomed today's reopening of the Lloyd's underwriting room, describing the tacit knowledge exchange that comes from being together as "crucial" to London's ability to trade risks the rest of the world can’t. Lloyd’s CEO John Neal announced recently that face coverings will ... Read the full article
IRB Brasil Re sinks to $125mn loss in Q2
1st September 2020
Brazilian reinsurer IRB Brasil Re recorded a net loss of $124.7 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared to a $72.3 million profit in the prior year quarter. The firm's combined ratio for the quarter stood at 167%, up from 84.7% in the prior year quarter. Written premium increased 8% year-over- year and ... Read the full article
Emerging market insurers to be hardest hit by COVID-19: Swiss Re
1st September 2020
Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has reported that emerging market insurers will be the hardest-hit globally by COVID-19. It is estimated that insurers will be hit with a 3.6 percentage point impact on premium growth in each of 2020 and 2021. However, China's insurance market is the exception, with average premium growth of ... Read the full article
Asia pandemic claims manageable but evolving: Fitch
1st September 2020
Asian reinsurers’ losses related to the coronavirus pandemic appear to be on a manageable scale thus far due to tight measures to curb the spread of the virus, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating agency noted that most Asian reinsurers entered the crisis well-capitalised, but warned that business growth could slow ... Read the full article
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