Reinsurance News

Fitch Ratings news

News featuring rating agency Fitch Ratings, including the latest reports, rating actions and analysis from the company, as well as news on Fitch’s analysis of the reinsurance sector.

Reinsurance shielding Australian insurers from flood ratings impact: Fitch

30th March 2022

Recent flooding and severe storms in south-east Queensland and New South Wales will affect insurers’ earnings rather than their capital, due to the strong reinsurance program that firms have in place, according to analysts at Fitch Ratings. The rating agency says insurers’ robust earnings and capital headroom should ensure their ratings ... Read the full article

Commercial insurer profits to peak in 2023, weaken after: Fitch

29th March 2022

Analysts at Fitch Ratings believe that commercial insurance price momentum peaked last year, meaning insurer profits are likely to reach a high in 2023 and weaken thereafter. In a new report, the rating agency notes that price increases since 2017 helped regain healthy profitability in 2021, but warns that price momentum ... Read the full article

US D&O premium growth drives loss ratio improvement: Fitch

29th March 2022

According to rating agency Fitch Ratings, several years of U.S director and officers’ (D&O) insurance rapid premium growth led to a material decline in 2021’s direct loss ratios, and it is expected that it may continue in the near term. But, recent performance improvement and competitive factors are expected to temper ... Read the full article

Cyber insurance in P&C industry grew by 22% in 2020: Fitch Ratings

25th March 2022

According to rating agency Fitch Ratings the Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Insurance Coverage Supplement reported that cyber insurance direct written premiums for the property & casualty (P&C) industry grew by 22% in 2020 to over $2.7 billion. Cyber insurance continues to be viewed as a growth market for P&C insurers, as ... Read the full article

Favourable pricing driving underwriting profits for commercial P&C insurers

23rd March 2022

Fitch Ratings has said that favourable pricing is driving underwriting profits for US diversified commercial property and casualty insurers. A new note from the agency outlines how the insurers it looked at are able to demonstrate operating scale via large premium bases and substantial levels of equity capital. Diversification, said the ... Read the full article

Re/insurers could face $10bn in claims from stranded planes: Fitch

22nd March 2022

Analysts at Fitch Ratings have warned that insurers could face claims as high as $10 billion in a worst-case scenario due to the grounding of planes in Russia, with 30-40% likely to be passed on to reinsurers. More than 500 planes that are financed or owned by non-Russian lessors are stranded ... Read the full article

Hard market conditions diminishing but still sufficient: Fitch

22nd March 2022

Looking at the earnings of the major European reinsurers, analysts at Fitch Ratings have said that the hardening market conditions are diminishing but still remain strong enough to counterbalance rising risks from economic inflation and financial market volatility. Hannover Re, Munich Re, SCOR and Swiss Re all ... Read the full article

Nat cat strategies diverge amongst largest reinsurers: Fitch

18th March 2022

Analysts at Fitch Ratings have observed differing approaches to managing natural catastrophe risks among the four major European reinsurers, following positive results for the group in 2021. The rating agency notes that all four reinsurers benefitted from the favourable pricing environment in reinsurance so as to increase premium income by 10% ... Read the full article

Market Volatility: Main risk for European re/insurers from Russia – Ukraine

18th March 2022

American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings warns that the war between Ukraine and Russia is more likely to impact the European insurance sector through second-order financial market volatility, instead of through direct effects from sanctions on Russian entities and other measures that are restricting Russian businesses. European re/insurers have little direct ... Read the full article

Fitch downgrades Russian insurers

14th March 2022

Fitch Ratings has lowered its ratings on a number of Russia insurers in light of the country's invasion of Ukraine and the resulting economic sanctions. The rating agency downgraded six Russian insurance companies' Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Ratings and the debt rating of one Russian insurer. The downgrades follow Fitch's downgrade of the ... Read the full article

CyberCube advises stress testing of portfolios with eastern European business

4th March 2022

CyberCube has released a new report saying that insurers and reinsurers should stress test their portfolios if they hold eastern European business, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The company has released a new report called War in Ukraine creates fundamental shift in the cyber threat landscape that presents eight ... Read the full article

Russian cyberattacks may test insurer war exclusion language: Fitch Ratings

2nd March 2022

The risk of cyberattacks has increased following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and may test the effectiveness of ‘war exclusion’ and ‘hostile act exclusion’ language in policies, says Fitch Ratings. A new note from the agency says that the wording, already under greater scrutiny following a recent court ruling that found an ... Read the full article

Fitch predicts €5bn insured losses from recent Europe storms

24th February 2022

Analysts at Fitch Ratings are estimating that a series of recent storms that battered much of northern Europe will together cause gross insured losses of as much as €5 billion. Storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin caused widespread wind and flood damage last week with particularly severe impacts in the Germany, the ... Read the full article

Tech partnerships to inform insurer market positions: Fitch

7th February 2022

Analysts at Fitch Ratings have argued that the success of partnerships with technology firms in the insurance space will play an increasingly important role in the future market position of insurance companies. The rating agency expects to see a rise in the number of partnerships between traditional insurance companies and insurtechs ... Read the full article

Italian and UK non-life sector outlooks differ from rest of Europe: Fitch

28th January 2022

According to Fitch Ratings, the insurance sector outlooks for major European non-life insurance markets in 2022 are mostly neutral, with Italy and the UK being the only exceptions. The rating agency also noted that in most of the markets, the positives, such as better pricing conditions for commercial business lines, are ... Read the full article