Latest Reinsurance Headlines

All the headlines from our Reinsurance Topic Page, ordered by recency.

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

Mar 23 2020 // 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...

Broker BMS Appoints Pfeffer from OneBeacon as U.S. Chief Casualty Officer

Mar 19 2020 // BMS Group, the independent specialist re/insurance broker, announced the appointment of Jonah Pfeffer as chief casualty officer at BMS Re U.S., effective immediately. He will report to Pete Chandler, president and CEO at...

P/C Insurers Score Low for Innovation, While Reinsurers Do Better: AM Best

Mar 18 2020 // In an initial test of its new innovation assessment scores, AM Best found that only 1 percent of rated property/casualty insurers merit scores high enough to categorize them as innovation leaders, according to a recent...

Canopius Acquires Bermuda-Based Specialty Reinsurer Multi-Strat Holdings

Mar 16 2020 // Canopius Group Ltd. has purchased a majority stake in Bermuda-based Multi-Strat Holdings Ltd.Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. MultiStrat is a specialty reinsurance group that writes both prospective...

AM Best Puts Ratings of Brazil Reinsurer IRB Under Review on Governance Issues

Mar 9 2020 // AM Best has placed under review with negative implications the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a” of IRB Brasil Resseguros S.A.The rating actions follow the...

Brazil Reinsurer IRB Resseguros Replaces CEO, CFO on Governance Concerns

Mar 5 2020 // Brazilian reinsurer IRB Brasil Resseguros SA replaced its chief executive and chief financial officer after its shares plunged nearly 32% on Wednesday after the company said that Berkshire Hathaway is not an...

EXOR to Sell PartnerRe to French Insurer Covea for $9 Billion

Mar 4 2020 // EXOR has agreed to sell PartnerRe to French mutual insurer Covéa, a move that is turning out to be a very profitable thing for the Italian investment firm.EXOR bought the Bermuda-based reinsurer in March 2016 for $6.72...

Insurance Unlikely to Cushion Coronavirus Losses – But There Are Exceptions

Mar 4 2020 // Don’t look for much relief from insurers to cushion losses from canceled events, travel disruptions and potential medical claims from the deadly Covid-19 virus that’s sweeping across the globe.The world’s...

Update: Demotech Evaluating 2019 Results of Florida Carriers, Expects ‘Many’ Downgrades

Mar 4 2020 // Ratings agency Demotech is currently reviewing the 2019 fourth quarter earnings and year-end financials of the Florida insurers it rates after indicating in January that several Florida domestic insurers could receive...

Re/Insurers to Feel Coronavirus Impact From Financial Market Volatility: Moody’s

Mar 2 2020 // Global insurers and reinsurers are exposed to the coronavirus outbreak directly through a potential spike in claims, and indirectly through the impact on economic growth and the resultant financial market volatility,...

Former Neon Exec Conway Joins TigerRisk’s Bermuda Reinsurance, Retro Teams

Feb 28 2020 // TigerRisk Partners LLC, the Stamford, Conn.-based re/insurance broker, announced it has appointed Christopher Conway to a newly created senior role strategically positioned across both TigerRisk’s Reinsurance and...

AXIS Chairman, Co-Founder Butt to Retire; Smith Named Chairman-Elect

Feb 27 2020 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced that Michael Butt, chairman of the board of directors, will retire from the company, effective Sept. 16, 2020.A co-founder of AXIS and member of the Insurance Hall of Fame, Butt is a...

Florida Carriers Seek Staggering Rate Increases Amid Market Turmoil

Feb 25 2020 // It’s no surprise that Florida carriers are raising homeowners’ insurance rates given several years of catastrophes and losses from litigation related to assignment of benefits and water damage claims.What may...

Berkshire Hathaway P/C Insurance Profit Down in 2019

Feb 24 2020 // Full-year insurance results at Berkshire Hathaway disappointed in 2019, with after-tax earnings from underwriting falling to $325 million in 2019 compared to $1.6 billion in 2018.Earnings from primary insurance operations...

AM Best: Florida Insurers Brace for Challenging June Reinsurance Renewals

Feb 24 2020 // Anticipated reinsurance rate increases for Florida-specific property insurance companies in the upcoming June 2020 renewal period potentially could pressure the more thinly capitalized companies in the market, according to...

Swiss Re Will Absorb Poor 2019 Earnings, Says S&P

Feb 21 2020 // S&P Global Ratings said that even though Swiss Re performed materially below expectation for its 2019 earnings, the ratings agency expects the group to maintain its risk-based capital above the “AA” level,...

SCOR Buys Majority Stake in Brazil MGA with Agricultural Specialty

Feb 14 2020 // Global reinsurer SCOR said it has acquired a majority stake in AgroBrasil, an MGA focused on distributing fruit and grain loss of crop quality and yield insurance protection to Brazilian farmers.Neither side disclosed...

B3i’s Blockchain Platform Places 30 Reinsurance Contracts, Including Cat XoL Treaties

Feb 14 2020 // B3i Services AG, a two-year-old company owned by members of the insurance industry, announced that 30 contracts of reinsurance have been concluded on its platform, including some of the most complex catastrophe excess of...

AIG and P/C Underwriting Post Profit for Q4

Feb 13 2020 // American International Group reported fourth quarter 2019 net income of $922 million compared to a net loss of $622 million in the prior-year quarter. The results reflected improvement in its closely-watched General...

‘Numbers Guy’ Zaffino Expected to Succeed Duperreault as AIG CEO…Eventually

Feb 12 2020 // Peter Zaffino sat at 2 World Trade Center poring over financial reports on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the first plane struck a neighboring building. Zaffino, known by colleagues for his laser-like focus, remained...