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.
European reinsurers prove resilient to 2017 catastrophe losses: Fitch
17th April 2018
Fitch Ratings has reported that the four major European reinsurers have proved convincingly resilient to the record-breaking catastrophe losses of 2017, with companies posting overall profits for the year and combined ratios expected to improve in 2018. With the exception of Hannover Re, the European reinsurers (SCOR, Munich Re & Swiss ... Read the full article
Underwriting pressure drives negative 2018 outlook for London market: Fitch
6th April 2018
Fitch Ratings has reported a negative sector outlook for London market re/insurance in 2018, citing underwriting pressure from the high cost of business as a driving factor. High acquisition and administration costs have affected underwriting performance, and although expense ratios remain high at 40%, the trend is now broadly flat year-on-year ... Read the full article
P&C reinsurers hardest hit by 2017 catastrophes: Fitch
27th March 2018
Property & casualty (P&C) reinsurers experienced the largest impact from catastrophes in 2017, reporting $5.5 billion of losses, up from $1.1 billion in the prior year, according to Fitch Ratings. For P&C re/insurers, 2017 brought the first aggregate underwriting loss since 2011. Reinsurers and Florida specialist sub-segments were hard hit, with catastrophe losses ... Read the full article
French mutual insurers face losses as new rules erode market monopolies: Fitch
15th March 2018
French mutual insurance companies will continue to lose market share, disadvantaged by their small size as rising regulatory costs threaten their ability to compete with traditional insurers and bancassurers, Fitch Ratings said. Meanwhile, competition from traditional insurers which have been eyeing the health and protection segments, the mainstay of mutuals, as strategic ... Read the full article
New system promises flexibility for Italian life re/insurers: Fitch Ratings
8th March 2018
Fitch Ratings has predicted that closed-fund consolidation will become prominent in the Italian life re/insurance market following the implementation of a new profit-sharing system set to be launched by the Italian regulator later this year. The new system is expected to gradually reduce Italian life insurers and reinsurers sensitivity to interest ... Read the full article
UK annuity market presents a “significant” opportunity for re/insurers
23rd February 2018
With a total addressable defined benefit (DB) market size of GBP2.3 trillion, the UK annuity market presents a significant opportunity for insurers and reinsurers as more pension schemes de-risk liabilities, driving demand for longevity reinsurance, according to Fitch's UK Annuity Market report. BPA market deals nearly doubled in 1H17 compared with ... Read the full article
Market conditions suggest continued re/insurer M&A interest in 2018: Fitch
14th February 2018
Fitch Ratings is anticipating continued interest in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity among insurers and reinsurers in 2018, driven by ongoing competition, the impacts of the U.S. tax reform, and the effects of catastrophe losses in 2017. Fitch said that AIG's announced $5.6 billion takeover of Validus could foreshadow further ... Read the full article
Cyber offerings and demand for protection to increase in 2018: Fitch
12th February 2018
The increasing number of data breaches has seen property and casualty re/insurers' advance their efforts to offer much-needed cyber protection for their clients, and throughout 2018 Fitch Ratings expects firms' to expand their offerings in the cyber space as demand spikes. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center and Cyber Scout, the ... Read the full article
IFRS 17 could temporarily increase European insurers’ cost of capital: Fitch
8th February 2018
The new international accounting standard for insurance contracts to be implemented in 2021, IFRS 17, could temporarily increase the cost of capital for European insurers due to investors' concerns over IFRS restatement effects. In an audience poll of investors, insurance issuers, bankers and others with an interest in the insurance market ... Read the full article
Bermuda to attract M&A and start-up activity in 2018: Fitch Ratings
5th February 2018
Fitch expects further Bermuda M&A activity in 2018 as entities seek out ways to manage the challenges of the continued competitive market environment under the additional strain of the recent catastrophe losses. Bermuda market M&A has often centered on non-Bermuda companies buying into Bermuda as a way to deploy capital abroad and ... Read the full article
Demand for bulk purchase annuity business potentially huge: Fitch
31st January 2018
Bulk purchase annuity (BPA) business is becoming increasingly important to the UK life insurance industry, and Fitch Ratings believes BPAs are a key growth area within the UK life sector over the coming years. BPA business is growing in importance to the UK life sector, with established providers continuing to complete ... Read the full article
Changes to U.S. tax law threaten Bermudians’ competitive advantage
26th January 2018
Challenges are looming on the horizon for Bermuda re/insurers whose relative competitive advantage to U.S. firms stands to be somewhat diminished by the recent sweeping U.S. corporate tax law changes. In a report on the Bermudian market Fitch said; "U.S. tax reforms will shrink the profitability gap between Bermuda and U.S. ... Read the full article
Modest rate increases for loss-affected U.S. lines, small improvements elsewhere: Fitch
25th January 2018
Global reinsurance pricing at the January 1st, 2018 renewals season saw modest rate increases in response to significant catastrophe loss activity in the second-half of 2017, with the biggest improvements occurring in loss-affected U.S. lines, notes Fitch Ratings. Unsurprisingly, property catastrophe rates in the U.S. experienced the biggest rate increases at ... Read the full article
Tax changes in Italy could boost catastrophe reinsurance demand
16th January 2018
Catastrophe reinsurance demand from Italian cedants could increase as insurers benefit from the new taxation regime, which gives catastrophe insurers premium exemption from the 22.5% insurance premium tax and makes 19% of premium tax-deductible. Fitch Ratings said the changes to the tax regime will offer new incentives for customers in Italy ... Read the full article
Alternative capital driving potentially flatter underwriting cycle: Fitch
16th January 2018
Fitch Ratings believes the expansion of alternative, or third-party capital has changed the dynamics of the reinsurance market, resulting in modest rate increases at the recent January 1st renewals and driving a potentially flatter underwriting cycle. The extremely active 2017 Atlantic hurricane season combined with powerful earthquakes in Mexico and devastating ... Read the full article
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