Latest Reinsurance Headlines

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

Sanctions Against Sudan Are Lifted but Insurers Still Can’t Buy Overseas Reinsurance

Feb 11 2019 // Sixteen months after the United States lifted most sanctions on Sudan, businesses are unable to operate dollar transactions, insurance companies are cut off from the reinsurance market and the local airline is virtually...

Issuer Credit Ratings of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance, Subsidiary Upgraded

Feb 5 2019 // AM Best has upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to “a+” from “a” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) of Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. and its...

W.R. Berkley’s Reinsurance Results Falter

Jan 31 2019 // W.R. Berkley Corp. ended 2018 with a decline in net income and worsening reinsurance combined ratio due to higher catastrophe loss expenses. At the same time, insurance premiums and investment income grew.The...

Specialist Re/Insurance Broker THB’s Completes Leadership Transition for Europe Division

Jan 31 2019 // THB, the London-based specialist insurance and reinsurance broker, confirms the completion of its THB Europe leadership transition.Joaquim Caria retires today as managing director of THB Europe, which was first announced...

FEMA Renews $1.3 Billion Reinsurance Program with 28 Carriers

Jan 31 2019 // The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has renewed for the third year a reinsurance program that transfers future catastrophic flood insurance losses to the private sectorThe 2019 traditional reinsurance placement...

French Insurer Covea Abandons Hostile Takeover of SCOR

Jan 30 2019 // SCOR SE slumped the most in more than a decade in Paris trading [on Tuesday, Jan. 28] after rival Covea abandoned efforts to buy the French reinsurer, ending one of the country’s most acrimonious takeover attempts in...

Allianz Has Reinsurance Exposure to Vale Dam Disaster: Sources

Jan 29 2019 // German insurer Allianz may have to cover some of the costs of the dam collapse at Vale’s Corrego do Feijao mine in Brazil, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.Allianz’s Global Corporate &...

PIMCO and Allianz Partner to Launch Insurance Linked Securities Business

Jan 28 2019 // PIMCO, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based fixed income investment manager, has hired Rick Pagnani from Mt. Logan Re as executive vice president, to lead the launch of the firm’s property and casualty insurance linked...

‘Resilient’ Bermuda Reinsurance Market Copes with U.S. Tax Reform, Catastrophes

Jan 25 2019 // Bermuda-based (re)insurers continue to be tested by challenging market conditions, including heightened catastrophic losses and diminishing competitive advantage resulting from U.S. tax reform. However, the Bermuda market...

Private Flood Insurers Not Yet Ready to Fill Massive U.S. Protection Gap

Jan 24 2019 // The flood insurance protection gap in the United States is massive, but the take-up rate of private flood insurance continues to be low. The relative inability of private insurers to penetrate the flood insurance market...

2 Markel CATCo Execs Leave After Reserves Inquiry Unveils ‘Personal Relationship’

Jan 22 2019 // Markel Corp. has reported that Anthony Belisle, Markel CATCo chief executive officer, and Alissa Fredricks, Markel CATCo chief executive officer for Bermuda, are no longer with the company following the disclosure of a...

Argo Estimates Losses from Q4 Natural Catastrophes, Other Claims to Hit $44M

Jan 18 2019 // Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., the Bermuda-based re/insurer, announced a preliminary pre-tax catastrophe loss estimate of $32 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, primarily related to Hurricane Michael and the...

Multiple Smaller Natural Disasters in 2018 Created ‘Unusual’ Insured Loss Picture: Willis

Jan 16 2019 // Insured loss estimates from major natural catastrophes in 2018 totaled roughly $71.5 billion, the highest since 2011’s annual market losses of $120 billion, according to Willis Re.However, the insured losses in 2018...

Global Reinsurance Capital Is Resilient Despite Losses of $230B over 2 Years: Aon

Jan 11 2019 // Global reinsurance capital – comprising traditional and alternative capital – fell 2 percent in 2018 to US$595 billion from $605 billion in 2017, remaining resilient in the face of insured natural catastrophe losses of...

Liberty Mutual Again Taps Capital Markets Via Reinsurance Sidecar, Limestone Re

Jan 9 2019 // Liberty Mutual has once again directly tapped capital markets’ reinsurance capacity via the Bermuda collateralized reinsurance sidecar, Limestone Re Ltd.Limestone Re provides approximately $150 million of...

Argo Group Renews Harambee Re Sidecar for 2019

Jan 9 2019 // Argo Group International Holdings Ltd., the Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer, announced the renewal of Harambee Re Ltd. as Argo Group’s sidecar reinsurer for 2019.Launched in 2013, the sidecar continues...

California Wildfires, Hurricane Michael Top List of 2018’s Costliest Natural Disasters: Munich Re

Jan 8 2019 // The costliest natural catastrophes occurred in the United States in 2018 with one of California’s devastating wildfires and Hurricane Michael topping the list, according to Munich Re.A report from Munich Re on last...

AXIS Capital Chairman Butt Inducted into Insurance Hall of Fame

Jan 4 2019 // AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. announced that the International Insurance Society (IIS) has inducted Michael Butt, chairman of AXIS Capital, into the Insurance Hall of Fame and named Butt the 2019 Insurance Hall of Fame...

Generali Completes Sale of Belgium Unit to Bermuda Re/Insurance Group Athora

Jan 2 2019 // Assicurazioni Generali SpA announced the closing of the sale of its entire stake in Generali Belgium SA to Athora Holding Ltd. for approximately €540 million ($618.9 million).The deal was first announced on April 18,...

January Renewals Show Higher Prices for Clients with Poor Loss Records: Willis Re

Jan 2 2019 // Reinsurance placements at Jan. 1, 2019 highlight a pricing gap between accounts with peak peril exposures, or poor loss records, and the rest, with many reinsurers placing emphasis on the quality of client counterparties,...