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Best’s News & Research Service - August 19, 2022 09:54 AM (EDT)

AM Best: Life Reinsurers Make Gains in Annual Top 50 Reinsurer List

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OLDWICK, N.J. //BestWire// - Life reinsurers made notable gains in AM Best’s yearly ranking of the world’s 50 largest reinsurers, as Munich Reinsurance Co., Swiss Re Ltd. and Hannover Rück SE retained their top three positions, respectively.

Clare Finnegan

Clare Finnegan

The top 50 reinsurer rankings were published by AM Best in its Best’s Market Segment Report – World’s 50 Largest Reinsurers.

Total reinsurance gross premiums written by the top 50 reinsurers rose 9.8% to $353 billion in 2021, AM Best said in the report.

Munich Re and Swiss Re together account for 24.3% of top 50 reinsurance gross premiums written in 2021, the report said.

The average combined ratio of the top 10 reinsurers was 99.2, significantly better than the 104.9 posted in 2020. Overall, the top 50 reinsurers posted an average combined ratio under 100 for the first time in five years, despite notable catastrophe losses in 2021.

“Many of the reinsurance companies AM Best rates reported that a third to half of their premium growth could be attributed to pricing increases, as opposed to exposure growth,” Clare Finnegan, senior financial analyst, AM Best, said in a statement. “Rate increases in many of the reinsurance lines are expected in 2023, although they will vary by line of business and territory” (BestWire, Aug. 17, 2022).

Among notable ranking changes within the top 50, Canada Life Re is the first life reinsurer to break the top five, rising to fourth from eighth place. Another life reinsurer, Pacific LifeCorp, rose to No. 19 from No. 27, according to AM Best’s report.

Canada Life Re’s move marks the first time a solely life reinsurance group has ever made the top four, the report said.

Other big gainers in the ranking are QBE Insurance Group Ltd., which rose to No. 33 from No. 36, and W.R. Berkley rose to No. 41 from No. 44.

Among reinsurers that lost the most ground, SiriusPoint Ltd. fell to No. 38 from No. 32 and American Agricultural Insurance Co. fell to No. 44 from No. 38.

Subscribers to Best’s News and Research Service can download the report at no charge, including data in spreadsheet format.

Subscribers can access the report and data here.

Learn more about Best’s News and Research Service.

(By David Pilla, news editor, BestWeek: David.Pilla@ambest.com)



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