Trending News & Highlights |
| AM Best Associate Director Antonietta Iachetta outlines new research that finds traditional capital increased from $468 billion at year-end 2023 to $500 billion at year-end 2024, reflecting robust net underwriting income and investment returns.
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| AM Best's Ed Kohlberg and Stratos Laskarides discuss new research that finds flourishing annuity sales, reinsurance used as a strategy, and rising competition from new market entrants that continue to support activity in the segment.
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| Personal information on more than 1.1 million policyholders was accessed during a third-party vendor's data breach, Farmers Insurance Exchange and Farmers Group Inc. said in state notifications.
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| Sompo Holdings Inc. said it will acquire 100% of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. in a cash deal valued at $3.5 billion.
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| Cavello Bay Reinsurance Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Enstar Group Ltd., filed a lawsuit against Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. and several of its units alleging it suffered $400 million in damages after they breached a 2022 reinsurance agreement.
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| Grange Insurance Association, a fraternal mutual insurer based in Washington, is looking to convert to a stock property insurer under a mutual holding company structure, the Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner said.
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| Florida regulators have approved another new homeowners writer, Viceroy Preferred Insurance Co., to be launched by Monarch National Insurance Co. and private equity firm Hale Partnership Capital Management LLC.
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| Another new carrier, Vision Insurance Exchange, plans to enter the broadened Florida homeowners market.
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| Crestwell Underwriters LLC, a managing general agent supported by Bain Capital, has launched in Florida with property insurance for condominium associations and plans to assume policies from state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Co.
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| CSAA Insurance Group requested a 6.9% increase for California homeowner rates in a filing that also details the company's commitment to depopulating the FAIR Plan, expanding coverage in the state and offering new discounts for wildfire mitigation projects.
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| Managing general agent Green Shield Risk Solutions launched a homeowners program targeting affluent clients in wildfire-prone areas of Colorado and California.
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| A federal judge in Kentucky handed down a split judgment that Humana Inc. must face four out of eight counts, including breach of contract, common law fraud and unjust enrichment, for its use of artificial intelligence when reviewing Medicare Advantage claims.
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| Insurance regulators in Delaware and New Mexico are reporting rate increases in the 25% to 35% range for individual market plans due to shifting federal policies and growing health care costs.
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| Hawaii's new notification requirements for cancellations and nonrenewals apply to personal and commercial property policies if they cover buildings used for residential purposes, the state's insurance division said in a memo.
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| Health insurers operating in Massachusetts are returning $75.6 million in premiums to individuals and small employers due to medical loss ratios that fell below requirements set by state law, the Division of Insurance said.
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| On Sept. 1, the United Kingdom will institute penalties for firms that fail to prevent fraud as part of legislation that will substantially shift corporate accountability, RSA Insurance Group Ltd. said, adding 25,000 organizations could face criminal liability under the new rules.
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| British insurers paid £472 million ($633.2 million) for more than 500,000 travel insurance claims in 2024, according to the Association of British Insurers.
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| Vienna Insurance Group said it will acquire 80% of the shares of Moldavian insurer Moldasig S.A. following a public auction.
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| Liberty Mutual Reinsurance said it has partnered with Safehub, a provider of seismic sensors and risk management technology, to launch a parametric earthquake insurance solution.
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| Units of Axa S.A., WTW and others have formed a partnership on parametric coverage designed to protect the Caribbean's second-largest coral reef from damage caused by the growing threat of hurricanes, Axa said.
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| AIA Group Ltd. reported double-digit first-half growth in its Asia markets, with China expanding rapidly and health insurance growth favored by demographic trends across the region, according to its chief executive officer.
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| Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd. posted lower first-half profit in lower investment and banking revenue while property/casualty and life/health incomes rose.
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| Perils AG said it is launching a new platform providing real-time industry loss forecasts for typhoons in Japan.
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Research |
Flourishing annuity sales, using reinsurance as a capital management strategy and rising competition from new market entrants continue to drive activity in the global life/annuity reinsurance segment, according to a new AM Best report.
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After four years of failing to meet their cost of capital, global reinsurers have now achieved that benchmark for the second straight year, driven in part by strong market performance, according to a new AM Best report.
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AM Best has revised its outlook on the U.S. health insurance segment to negative from stable due to increased utilization and higher medical costs across the industry and other significant segment challenges.
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Reinsurance pricing at the midyear 2025 renewals was the most favorable pricing for cedents in recent years, indicating that competition among capacity providers has intensified, according to a new AM Best report. In addition, record-breaking issuance of 144A property catastrophe bonds has expanded avenues by which investors can participate, facilitating growth in capacity.
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Europe’s four largest reinsurers—Swiss Re, Munich Re, Hannover Re and SCOR—reported strong results in 2024, benefitting from good rate adequacy and continued underwriting discipline on policy terms and attachment points. According to a new AM Best report, they are also maintaining their ambitious profit targets for 2025, despite the material impact of the California wildfires in first-quarter 2025 and signs of rate softening.
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Asia’s reinsurers are actively expanding to mature overseas markets as part of a move to diversity and be more agile with underwriting cycle management, according to a new report from AM Best.
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Total dedicated reinsurance capital is projected to grow to USD 649 billion in 2025, following similar-size increases as in the previous two years, according to a new AM Best report.
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Rankings |
| U.S. ocean marine insurance direct premiums written increased 1.3% in 2024, according to a new Best's Ranking report.
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| The U.S. property/casualty industry saw all other lines direct premiums written increase 2.4% in 2024 to reach $120.51 billion, according to a new Best's Rankings report.
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| Direct premiums written by U.S. property/casualty disability income insurers declined 3.2% to $299.3 million in 2024, according to a new Best's Rankings report.
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| U.S. property/casualty dental only direct premiums written decreased 4.7% in 2024 to $47.6 million, according to a new Best's Rankings report.
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