Latest Reinsurance Headlines
All the headlines from our Reinsurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Affirms Munich Re’s ‘AA-‘ Ratings, Reflecting Sufficient Capital for COVID-19 Crisis
May 29 2020 // S&P Global Ratings has affirmed its “AA-” long-term issuer credit and financial strength ratings for Munich Re and its subsidiaries, with a stable outlook. The stable outlook reflects S&P’s view...
Reinsurers Will Fail to Earn Cost of Capital in 2020, Leading to More Rate Hikes: Fitch
May 27 2020 // Global reinsurers will fail to earn its cost of capital in 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis, which will help maintain price increases for the sector during the year ahead, said Fitch Ratings. Financial performance will be...
Lawmaker Details Federal Reinsurance for Pandemic Business Interruption, Event Losses
May 27 2020 // New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has introduced the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act of 2020, a federal backstop for pandemic-related business interruption insurance modeled after the Terrorism Risk Insurance...
Brazil Reinsurer IRB Eyes Purchase of Foreign Competitors’ Portfolios: Sources
May 22 2020 // Brazilian reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros SA is in advanced negotiations to buy rivals’ portfolios in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America as foreign competitors scale back in the region, two sources close to the...
Activist Shareholder Urges Watford Holdings to Sell Itself, or Be Put Into Runoff
May 20 2020 // Capital Returns Management LLC, the fifth largest shareholder of Watford Holdings Ltd., is urging the re/insurer to sell itself or be put into runoff. In a letter to Watford’s board of directors, the activist...
BMS Names Former Everest CEO Addesso as Non-Exec Chair of U.S. Reinsurance Arm
May 20 2020 // BMS Group, the London-based specialist re/insurance broker, announced the appointments of Dominic Addesso as non-executive chairman and LoriAnn Lowery-Biggers as an independent non-executive director of BMS Intermediaries...
For Third Point Re, COVID-19 Crisis Hurts, but It Celebrates 1st Underwriting Profit
May 20 2020 // Third Point Re reported a net loss of $183.6 million for the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19-related investment volatility – but the company still had big reasons to celebrate. For the first time since its...
P/C Insurers Back a Federal Pandemic Loss Fund But Not a Backstop Like TRIA
May 19 2020 // Property/casualty insurance carrier groups are developing a proposal for a federal program to replace revenues lost by businesses shut down during pandemics like COVID-19, but their program won’t be modeled after the...
Ed Broking Launches E-Trading Platform Called ‘TradEd’ in Bermuda
May 18 2020 // Ed Broking, the London-based reinsurance, wholesale and specialty broker, announced the external launch of its TradEd portals for carriers and clients in Bermuda. TradEd, the e-trading platform that is used in-house by BGC...
BMS Signs Long-Term Partnership Agreement with Chilean Broker Insurex Re
May 18 2020 // BMS Group, the London-based specialist re/insurance broker, announce it has signed a preferred partner agreement with the independent Chilean reinsurance broker and existing trading partner Insurex Re, a company owned by...
Florida’s Capitol Preferred to Shed Nearly 24K Policies; Regulator to Monitor Operations
May 15 2020 // Capitol Preferred Insurance Co., one of the top writers of homeowners insurance in Florida, has received approval from the state’s insurance regulator to shed 23,800 policies just weeks before the start of hurricane...
UK Government to Create Temporary Reinsurance Backstop for Trade Credit Insurance
May 13 2020 // The UK Treasury announced it is creating a government-backed temporary reinsurance scheme so businesses can continue to access trade credit insurance during the COVID-19 crisis. The scheme will be delivered through a...
Q1 Insurtech Fundraising Drops 54% on COVID-19 Disruption: Willis Towers Watson
May 8 2020 // Overall funding for insurtech investments decreased by 54% during the first quarter as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, compared to a record high in Q1 last year, according to a report from Willis Towers...
Hiscox Raises £375M to Respond to U.S. Wholesale, Reinsurance Growth Opportunities
May 6 2020 // Lloyd’s insurer Hiscox has successfully raised capital of approximately £375 million (US$465 million) as a result of an equity placement of new ordinary shares. The company announced the equity placing on May 5,...
AXIS Gets AM Best Ratings Downgrade on ‘Deterioration’ of Operating Performance
May 6 2020 // AM Best has downgraded the credit ratings of Bermuda-based AXIS Capital Holdings and its subsidiaries. The re/insurer has had its Financial Strength Rating downgraded to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and its Long-Term...
Hiscox to Raise Capital in Response to COVID-19 Growth Opportunities and Exposures
May 5 2020 // Lloyd’s insurer Hiscox is planning a capital raise via the placement of new ordinary shares, which will enable the company to respond to expected growth opportunities ahead and prudently prepare for possible...
Crane Named CEO of Specialist Re/insurance Broker THB Group
May 5 2020 // THB, the specialist insurance and reinsurance broker, announced that Matthew Crane has been named chief executive officer of THB Group and president of the International division of AmWINS Group, Inc., global distributor...
Berkshire Discloses Q1 Insurance Results; Buffett Talks Coronavirus Impact
May 4 2020 // Berkshire Hathaway’s property/casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses reported a first quarter underwriting profit of $747 million before taxes, nearly double the pretax underwriting profit of $377 million...
Markel Estimates COVID-19 Losses of $325 Million
Apr 30 2020 // Diverging from strategies of some competitors, Markel Corp. established a big reserve for a chunk of its potential COVID-19 exposure for the entire year—putting up $325 million for direct potential losses. The holding...
Court Nixes $64M Award Against Fireman’s Fund in Reinsurance Spat with Utica Mutual
Apr 30 2020 // A federal appellate court on Tuesday overturned a jury’s award of $64 million against Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. for allegedly breaching the terms of a reinsurance agreement. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals...
