Fitch Ratings News

Fitch Places Lloyd’s of London’s on Rating Watch Negative on COVID-19 Crisis

Fitch Ratings has placed Lloyd’s of London’s ‘AA-‘ Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings on rating watch negative, on the uncertainty and increased risk to Lloyd’s earnings and underwriting performance due to claims from the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative rating watch …

Fitch Revises Rating Watch on Sirius to ‘Evolving’ on Uncertainties over Planned Sale

Fitch Ratings has revised the rating watch to evolving from negative on all ratings for Sirius International Group, Ltd. and its operating subsidiaries, including its ‘A-‘ (Strong) Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) rating, its ‘BBB’ Long-Term Issuer Default rating (IDR), and …

The Longer Coronavirus Crisis Lasts, the More Uncertain Is P/C Insurance Outlook

North American property/casualty insurers reported improved 2019 operating performance, but near-term performance will likely be more challenging with the onset of coronavirus and the resulting economic impact, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. Fitch’s rating outlook for the U.S. …

Fitch Revises Outlook for London Insurance Sector to Negative on COVID-19 Impact

Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook for the underlying fundamentals of the London market insurance sector to negative from stable. The sector outlook revision reflects increased concerns over the COVID-19 disruption and the related impacts on the credit quality of …

Fitch Revises Global Reinsurance Sector Outlook to Negative; Rating Outlook Stable

Fitch Ratings announced a dimmer “sector outlook” for global reinsurers—changing it to negative from stable, pointing to increased concerns over COVID-19. Rating agencies like Fitch offer two types of outlooks for segments of the insurance and reinsurance markets—sector outlooks and …

Fitch Sees Only ‘Modest Impact’ on U.S. P/C Insurance from Coronavirus

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is not currently anticipated to have a meaningful adverse impact on financial results reported by U.S. property/casualty companies, nor their ratings, according to Fitch Ratings. The nature of insured commercial exposures along with restrictive language embedded …

UK Insurers Could See Underwriting Losses After Storms Ciara, Dennis: Fitch

Losses from storms Ciara and Dennis, which brought strong winds, torrential rain and widespread flooding to the UK, will increase pressure on UK household insurers’ profits in 2020, said Fitch Ratings. While the claims are unlikely to exceed £500 million …

Typhoon Hagibis Likely to Cause Earnings Event for Japan’s Insurers: Fitch

Typhoon Hagibis is likely to be an earnings event for Japan’s three main non-life insurance groups, MS&AD Insurance Groups Holdings, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. (TMNF), with no material effects on capital and …

Reinsurers Maintain Upward Pricing Momentum-But Will It Last?

Positive pricing momentum—it’s the favorite phrase of many reinsurance executives, who are hoping that the momentum they’ve seen in 2019 will continue during the coming January renewals and beyond. The question is whether they will be disappointed, once again. Over …

Strong E&S Premium Growth in Response to Weak Results; Top 15 E&S Writers: Fitch

Direct written premiums in the U.S. excess and surplus (E&S) lines market during 2018 grew at its greatest rate since 2012, increasing 11% and representing the eighth consecutive year of premium growth, according to Fitch Ratings. The trend continued its …