Trending News & Highlights |
| AM Best Industry Analyst Helen Andersen discusses two new Best's Special Reports on property/casualty and life/health 2024 rating trends.
|
| |
|
| The total U.S. life/health industry’s admitted assets of $9.2 trillion at the end of 2024 were up 6.3% from the prior year, according to a new Best's Rankings report.
|
| |
|
| U.S. property/casualty net premiums written increased 8.8% to $929.81 billion in 2024, according to a new Best’s Rankings report.
|
| |
|
| AM Best Director Edward Kohlberg highlights a new Best's Market Segment Report that determines that economic conditions, regulatory frameworks and engaging products will reshape the future of the life/annuity market.
|
| |
|
| (Updates with comment from Viridium Group in seventh paragraph) A consortium including Allianz SE, BlackRock and Japan's T&D Holdings will acquire German life insurance consolidator Viridium Group for €3.5 billion ($3.81 billion) from international private equity firm Cinven.
|
| |
|
| Allianz SE said it entered into binding share purchase agreements with Bajaj Finserv Ltd. to sell its 26% stake in its nonlife and life insurance joint ventures to Bajaj Group for about €2.6 billion ($2.84 billion).
|
| |
|
| Munich Re's Ergo primary insurance group agreed to acquire NEXT Insurance for $2.6 billion, giving the Germany-based group access to the U.S. market including the attractive U.S. small and medium-size business segment.
|
| |
|
| The Doctors Co., the nation's largest physician-owned medical professional liability insurer, said it will acquire ProAssurance Corp. for approximately $1.3 billion.
|
| |
|
| New York Life Insurance Co. posted record financial results in 2024, driven by a highest-ever $1.9 billion in insurance sales and $808 billion in assets under management, it said in a year-end financial report.
|
| |
|
| Lloyd's saw a near tripling of large losses in 2024 on hurricanes, floods and man-made events as the group posted lower pretax profit for the year.
|
| |
|
| Talanx AG brought its catastrophe large losses under budget for 2024 with U.S. hurricanes and floods in Europe and Brazil delivering the biggest hits while international retail led on profit growth.
|
| |
|
| Ping An Insurance Group's 2024 profit rose as underwriting improved in certain property/casualty segments while guarantee insurance liabilities ran down.
|
| |
|
| Prudential plc posted a 41% hike in 2024 after-tax profit on growing savings and protection demand across Asia as the group separately announced a health insurance joint venture in India.
|
| |
|
| India's insurance regulator said it approved Valueattics Reinsurance Ltd., which the regulator said is the first reinsurer to exclusively carry out reinsurance business in the country.
|
| |
|
| Perils AG raised its insured loss estimate for September floods in Central Europe and Italy to €2.19 billion ($2.38 billion) from €2.08 billion.
|
| (Photo by Mateusz Slodkowski/Getty Images) |
|
|
| Severe weather cost Canadian commercial carriers more than C$1.7 billion ($1.19 billion) last year, according to Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.
|
| |
|
| California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is granting State Farm General’s request to hike interim property rates 21.8% to 38%, but it comes with conditions.
|
| |
|
| New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance Alice Kane instituted a higher, interim maximum residential property limit of $750,000 for NM Fair Plan policies while state lawmakers consider making higher limits for personal and commercial policies permanent.
|
| (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) |
|
|
| Legislation is circulating in the Nevada Assembly that would create a FAIR Plan association for personal and commercial property coverage in areas where traditional coverage isn’t available, according to the bill’s text.
|
| |
|
| Colorado lawmakers are considering setting a loss ratio threshold for home insurance to help determine when rates become excessive, according to House Bill 1302, which also creates a wildfire reinsurance program and lays out funding a home hardening program.
|
| (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) |
|
|
| Total U.S. single-premium pension risk transfer sales of $51.8 billion in 2024 were up 14% from the previous year and just shy of the record set in 2022, according to LIMRA's U.S. Group Annuity Risk Transfer Sales Survey.
|
| |
|
| Among the wave of executive orders ushering in the second Trump administration were directives to eliminate federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and scrutinize private employer practices, potentially raising risks for directors and officers and other employer liability insurance lines.
|
| |
|
Research |
As more companies seek greater financial flexibility amid a hard reinsurance market with higher interest rates, the U.S. property/casualty and health segments have increased their use of surplus notes over the past two years, according to a new AM Best report.
|
The U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry recorded a $22.9 billion net underwriting gain in 2024, signifying the segment’s first underwriting profit since 2020, and marking a substantial swing from the $21.3 billion loss recorded in the prior year, according to a new AM Best report.
|
Retained earnings and new capital inflows helped drive the estimated capacity level in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) segment to a record USD 107 billion at year-end 2024, according to a new AM Best report.
|
The withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the latest sign of political turmoil in the region, but the direct impact on (re)insurance markets will be limited in the short term, according to a new commentary from AM Best.
|
AM Best is projecting modest growth in capital & surplus of approximately $48 billion for the U.S. life/annuity (L/A) insurance industry over the combined 2024-2025 period, according to a new Best’s Market Segment Report.
|
