S&P Global Ratings News

Global Reinsurers Could Be Greatly Underestimating Exposure to Climate Risk: S&P

Reinsurers’ estimates of their exposure to natural catastrophe risk could be underestimated by 33%-50%, according to a report published by S&P Global Ratings. “Unmodeled risks and the inherent difficulties in attributing extreme events to climate change create the risk that …

Insurance Industry Will Withstand Ida’s Losses in Louisiana, Neighboring States: Analysts

Though estimates of Hurricane Ida’s impact on the insurance industry vary, both AM Best and S&P Global Ratings say losses will be manageable for insurers and that no rating actions are expected as a result of the powerful storm that …

Germany’s Floods Will See ‘Sizable’ Protection Gap. Could Insurance Demand Increase?

With an insured price tag of €4 billion to €5 billion (US$4.7 billion to $5.9 billion), economic losses from Germany’s recent floods are likely to be significantly higher, which highlights a sizable insurance “protection gap.” This protection gap – or …

We Can Work It Out: Negotiations Likely on COVID-19 Reinsurance Losses

Catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance contracts “never anticipated an event like a pandemic,” but cedents can still expect compromises from their reinsurers, an industry executive said Thursday. While cedents and reinsurers may often disagree about how the reinsurance contracts apply, …

COVID Takes Big Bite from Multiline Insurers’ Earnings, in ‘Manageable’ Event: S&P

The COVID-19 crisis cost 16 global multiline insurers about $8 billion in 2020, although they still reported substantial net profit of $36 billion, according to a report published by S&P Global Ratings. This net profit figure was down from $56 …

Analysts Affirm CNA Ratings As Insurer Continues Probe of Cyber Attack

CNA Financial Corp.’s financial ratings have not been affected by the insurer’s recent cyber attack. AM Best, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings all affirmed their current ratings and outlooks for CNA and its subsidiaries and said they believe the …

Reinsurers Saw ‘Good’ Rate Hikes in January Renewals, but Will Be Asking for More: S&P

Global property and casualty reinsurers saw “good” rate increases during the January 2021 renewals but they came up short of a hard market, dashing reinsurers’ hope of a strong start for 2021, according to a report from S&P Global Ratings. …

AIG’s Plan to Divest Life & Retirement Business Could Prompt Ratings Downgrades

American International Group’s plan to downsize by divesting its Life & Retirement (L&R) business is drawing cautious and wary reactions from rating agencies that follow the property/casualty insurance giant. They said that they’re worried about what the divestiture will do …

Reinsurers’ Investment Strategies Offer Buffer for Low Interest Rates, Pandemic: S&P

A decade of low interest rates and tough underwriting conditions has led reinsurers to cautiously invest in riskier and more illiquid assets to generate additional return. The good news is that this strategy also has helped reinsurers tolerate the economic …

Reinsurance Sector Can Expect More Negative Rating Actions over Next Year: S&P

Despite the global reinsurance sector’s “robust capital position” and “very high rate rises,” which are expected to “carry on for the remainder of year, and continue for major renewals in 2021,” S&P Global Rating’s credit outlook for the sector will …