S&P

S&P to withdraw ratings for Russian firms

23rd March 2022

S&P Global Ratings has announced plans to withdraw all of its outstanding ratings on Russian firms, in line with new regulations imposed by the European Union (EU). Earlier this month, S&P announced the suspension of its commercial operations in Russia, in response to the country’s widely-condemned invasion of Ukraine. Following that, on ... Read the full article

Australian flood claims continue to rise, says ICA

2nd March 2022

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has reported that 48,220 claims have been made related to the flooding in South-East Queensland and the New South Wales coast, this is a 53% increase on yesterday’s claims count and demonstrates the significant impact of this event. 37,807 of these claims are from Queensland, ... Read the full article

S&P Global Ratings takes negative action on rated Russian insurers

2nd March 2022

S&P Global Ratings has taken what it calls ‘negative rating actions’ on its rated Russian insurers. The agency said that its actions reflected its view about increased geopolitical and economic risks in Russia. According to S&P, it has:

• Lowered the ratings on Sogaz Insurance and Ingosstrakh Insurance to BBB-.
• Lowered the ratings

S&P maintains negative outlook for global reinsurance sector

29th October 2021

According to a report from S&P Global Ratings, the global reinsurance sector has generated weak underwriting results in the past four years, from 2017-2020, with this current year shaping up to also be below-par, leading the ratings agency to stay negative on the industry. S&P noted that the industry continues to ... Read the full article

Insurer M&A activity to ‘at least double’ in 2021, says S&P

7th April 2021

Analysis by S&P claims that for 2021, insurance carrier merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is poised for a breakout year, with deal value potentially reaching as high as $71.65 billion in the aggregate. Deal value of this magnitude would represent an increase of 269.5% from the levels seen in 2020, and ... Read the full article

Everest Re’s earnings can absorb $546m Q4 charges, says S&P

28th January 2021

Everest Re Group, Ltd.'s full-year 2020 earnings will be able to absorb the $546 million of previously announced fourth-quarter charges, according to analysis by S&P Global Ratings. Earlier this week, the Bermuda-based re/insurer announced estimated pre-tax net catastrophe losses of $70 million for Q4, alongside an additional $76 million of ... Read the full article

US health insurer ratings performed well in 2020: S&P

25th January 2021

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have released a report that shows US health insurer ratings performed relatively well in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysts also believe the industry's resilience to the pandemics effects remains to be seen in 2021, whilst predicting credit quality to hold up well. However, this may come ... Read the full article

Hiscox able to absorb COVID-19 BI losses: S&P

20th January 2021

Hiscox's capitalisation can absorb additional COVID-19 business interruption losses despite earnings impact, says global ratings agency S&P Global Ratings. S&P believes the Supreme Court's recent COVID-19 BI decision has further depressed Hiscox Group's earnings. The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority brought forward a test case to determine whether certain holders of business ... Read the full article

Life re/insurers well positioned to handle COVID-19 risks: S&P

1st April 2020

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings believe the North American life re/insurance industry is well-positioned to handle the immediate impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, despite significant escalation for certain risks. In particular, life insurers will face higher asset risk, S&P said, as well as equity market volatility, near-zero interest rates, and ... Read the full article

S&P stable on North American P&C despite COVID-19 pressures

30th March 2020

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings believe that fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic will be “manageable” for North American property and casualty (P&C) re/insurers, and have maintained their stable outlook on the sector. The rating agency considers current financial market turmoil and the ensuing recession to be a greater headwind to ... Read the full article

Extreme pandemic could exhaust 12% of US life capital: S&P

17th February 2020

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings have estimated that an extreme pandemic event could result in $52 billion of excess net mortality claims for US life re/insurers, or about 12% of aggregate industry capital. This hypothetical stress test was conducted against the backdrop of the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected 71,442 people ... Read the full article

S&P upgrades Mapfre Re ratings on more diverse earnings

19th November 2019

S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the long-term issuer credit and financial strength ratings of Mapfre Re from ‘A’ to ‘A+’, based on improved underwriting earnings diversification. The rating agency also raised the long-term issuer credit rating on parent company Mapfre S.A from ‘BBB+’ to ‘A-‘, and assigned a stable outlook to ... Read the full article

Cyber returns will diminish over time: S&P analysts

15th October 2019

The cyber insurance and reinsurance industry continues to be extremely profitable and shows vast potential for growth, but returns are likely to diminish as the sector becomes more firmly established. This according to Jean-Paul Huby Klein, Associate Director for Insurance Ratings at S&P Global Ratings, who commented on the prospects of ... Read the full article

Re/insurers’ increasing use of structured solutions to persist: S&P

20th September 2019

Analysts at S&P Global Ratings expect global insurers and reinsurers to increasingly leverage structured solutions to mitigate exposure to legacy business and prune unprofitable non-core products. The global re/insurance market remains competitive and challenging, and as a result, it's expected that companies will continue to strive for improved risk-adjusted returns by ... Read the full article

Convergence capital decreases for first time in 10 years, reports S&P

16th September 2019

The amount of convergence capital being provided to reinsurers globally has fallen for the first time in 10 years, according to S&P Global Ratings, reflecting more than two years of negative returns and trapped collateral from natural catastrophes. Despite these challenges, analysts believe capital will continue to flow into the market, ... Read the full article