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.
Asia hit with lion’s share of global economic losses but regional re/insurance market grows
14th August 2017
Asia has often bourne the brunt of global economic losses from catastrophes, at $US74 billion the region was hit with 47% of global economic losses last year, only 16% of which was insured - but governments are increasingly counteracting these losses by introducing schemes and regulations to up the impetus ... Read the full article
Fitch expects Asian reinsurers to increase use of debt capital
8th August 2017
Fitch Ratings expects the Asian bond market to gain traction in the near to medium term as the persistent low-interest rate environment fuels reinsurers in the region to look at debt capital over equity funding. The majority of reinsurance companies across Asia are equity-funded, but in a low-interest rate environment, which ... Read the full article
Fitch predicts continued premium rate declines in Asia as reinsurance competition intensifies
8th August 2017
Rating Agency Fitch has predicted a continued trend of softening reinsurance premium rates for the remainder of 2017 in Asia, as competition intensifies with both established reinsurers expanding operations in the region and increasing numbers of start-ups joining the playing field. Capital abundance has brought further declines to Asia's reinsurance premium ... Read the full article
Asian re/insurance regulators continue to walk the protectionist tightrope
7th August 2017
Asian re/insurance regulators have continued the trend towards localisation and protectionism to stop capital outflow from insurance premium cedance, with this year seeing India join the ranks of countries introducing further “order of preference” rules. These rules require insurers to give local reinsurers and branches of onshore foreign insurers first 'right ... Read the full article
M&A in Asia driven by incentives for foreign diversification & local capacity growth
4th August 2017
Soft market conditions provide the backdrop for reinsurance industry Merger & Acquisitions (M&As) throughout Asia, although the highly varied local industry dynamics and levels of market maturity create a mixed bag of motives, with some reinsurers driven to acquire by foreign diversification needs while others merge to grow their own ... Read the full article
Re/insurance favourable reserve development to decline: Fitch
27th July 2017
Fitch Ratings expects Bermuda insurance and reinsurance market favourable reserve development to decline over the next couple of years, warning that any decrease could be accelerated by the speed and extent at which the reinsurance sector's favourable reserve development reduces. Recent analysis by global financial services rating agency, Fitch Ratings, explores the ... Read the full article
Bermudian re/insurers’ shift to primary business yet to pay off
20th July 2017
Underwriting income from reinsurance business over the last decade has been far more significant for Bermudian re/insurers than underwriting income from primary business, but this hasn't stopped firms' continued transition to a more insurance focused business mix, according to Fitch Ratings. Global financial services rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has examined the ... Read the full article
Indonesian reinsurers’ competitiveness improves with OJK capacity optimisation policy: Fitch
14th July 2017
Indonesia's reinsurance industry premiums have increased in the past few years with a three-year average growth of 33%, after the Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) optimised local capacity, enabling the sector to retain more risk domestically. OJK requires all reinsurers to purchase enough protection to cover a 250-year return period; most of ... Read the full article
Fitch turns Negative on Lloyd’s as underwriting deteriorates
29th June 2017
In response to the continued deterioration in underwriting performance and increasing catastrophe risk exposure, Fitch Ratings (Fitch) has revised the Lloyd's of London's and Lloyd's Insurance Company (China) Ltd's outlook to Negative from Stable. At the same time international financial services rating agency, Fitch, has also affirmed the Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) Ratings at ... Read the full article
Florida specialists remain largely untested despite 2016 activity: Fitch
12th June 2017
Despite the impacts of Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Hermine in 2016 the balance sheet and operating infrastructure of many specialist Floridian insurers remains relatively untested against a large loss event, says Fitch Ratings. However, while the $4.5 billion insured loss from Matthew combined with the estimated $400 million loss from ... Read the full article
Hurricane season to bring additional challenges to U.S. P/C industry: Fitch
1st June 2017
The U.S. property & casualty insurance industry is strongly capitalised and has the capacity to withstand what's expected to be an active hurricane season ahead despite the continued challenges of competitive pricing, said Fitch Ratings' in its 2017 hurricane season report. The agency cautioned, however, that a major catastrophic hurricane could be hard-hitting ... Read the full article
Re/insurers’ financial accounts reporting set for major change with IFRS 17 release
22nd May 2017
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has released a new global basis for insurance contracts accounting, with the issuance of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 17, which industry experts have called "the biggest shake-up of financial reporting for decades." IFRS creates a common global language for business, enabling easy understanding of company accounts across ... Read the full article
Specialty reinsurance premiums grow as traditional business takes a hit: Fitch
22nd May 2017
International financial services rating agency, Fitch Ratings, has highlighted a trend of non-life reinsurers moving into specialty lines, as they seek pockets of premium growth to offset stiff competition in more traditional business lines. Fitch Managing Director, Jim Auden, said industry competition had weakened market pricing significantly in the last three ... Read the full article
Reinsurer reserve redundancies continue to deteriorate
19th May 2017
Reinsurance market conditions have remained challenging in 2017 as the soft pricing environment persists, and analysts at Fitch Ratings have noted further deterioration of overall reserve redundancies across the non-life space, suggesting companies are less able to utilise reserves to bolster weak underwriting returns. The decline in reinsurance industry reserves has ... Read the full article
Terms & conditions show signs of weakening in 2017: Fitch
18th May 2017
The persistent soft reinsurance market environment is again resulting in the weakening of terms and conditions (T&Cs), as market participants increasingly utilise multiyear protection, extended hours clause, and the inclusion of risks that aren't fully understood by the industry, according to Fitch Ratings. Throughout the softening reinsurance market cycle there have ... Read the full article
Getting your daily reinsurance news from Reinsurance News is a simple way to receive only the reinsurance industry news that matters, delivered directly to your email inbox.
