Swiss Re News

Catastrophe Losses Driven Higher by Secondary Perils – And Climate Change

Secondary perils, exacerbated by climate change, are driving catastrophe insurance losses, warn a growing chorus of reinsurers and brokers. Indeed, broker Aon reveals that more than 60% of 2020’s insured catastrophe losses of $54 billion have been caused by secondary …

What to Expect in 2021: Reinsurance Market Moving From ‘Timid’ to ‘Hard’

Speaking at one of the many virtual conferences that took place in early September, Dan Malloy, chief executive officer of Bermuda-based Third Point Reinsurance, offered an anecdotal view of the reinsurance market from a broker he knows. “It isn’t a …

Some Reinsurers Will Try Pandemic Exclusions for Casualty at Jan. 1 Renewals

Whether they are convinced that they absolutely need them or not, some reinsurers aim to try to put pandemic exclusions into casualty reinsurance contracts next year, a reinsurance broker representative revealed recently. Amanda Nguyen, U.S. Casualty Solutions Leader for Reinsurance …

Fitch’s Reinsurance Outlook Remains Negative, Despite Entry into Hard Market Phase

Fitch Ratings said yesterday its ratings outlook for companies in the global reinsurance sector will continue to remain negative as a result of hefty coronavirus claims and low interest rates. The good news for companies, however, is that the market …

Social Inflation, Low Interest Rates, Rising Catastrophes: Recipe for a Hard Market

Even before the coronavirus crisis hit, the re/insurance industry was in a period of significant rate hardening, which will likely continue over the next two years, or even longer, according to Munich Re. Such price increases became necessary after 10-plus …

Hurricane Laura’s Timing, Direction Bring Harvey, Katrina, Rita to Mind

Tropical Storm Laura morphed into a hurricane on Aug. 25, 2020 — three years to the day after Hurricane Harvey swept ashore on the Texas Gulf Coast — and is expected to make landfall just days before the 15-year anniversary …

Swiss Re Builds Risk Scoring System, Aiming to Reward Safe Cars with Lower Premiums

A car owner should be able to pay lower insurance premiums for driving a car with safety features, such as automated braking that stops the car when the driver is distracted or lane keep assist systems that help prevent a …

Not Every Insurtech Is a Startup: How Swiss Re Delivers Tech Solutions

It’s not just insurtech startups that have an edge on innovation. Some established reinsurers have developed their own analytics and technology divisions that offer a variety of insurtech-type solutions for clients. Swiss Re, for example, set up such a unit …

Secondary Perils Drive Global Insured Catastrophe Losses of $31B During H1: Swiss Re

Global insured property losses from disasters were US$31 billion in the first half of 2020, up from US$23 billion during the same period last year, according to Swiss Re Institute’s sigma estimates. Natural catastrophes accounted for US$28 billion of H1’s …

Swiss Re Confirms H1 Loss of $1.1B with Combined Ratio of 115.8%

Reinsurance company Swiss Re said on Friday the $2.5 billion in claims and reserves related to COVID-19 that it booked in the first half of the year would likely cover the bulk of its pandemic-related losses. The Zurich-based company, confirming …