Global Reinsurance Highlights 2020 Edition
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Global ReinsuranceGlobal HighlightsReinsurance 2019 Highlights 2020 PUBLISHEDPUBLISHED BY: BY: Global Reinsurance Highlights 2019 PUBLISHED BY: Global Reinsurance Highlights 2020 Edition For further information, please visit our reinsurance page on our website www.spratings.com Global Reinsurance Highlights | 2020 3 4 Global Reinsurance Peer Review Contributors For S&P Global Ratings For Intelligent Insurer Project Leaders Data Team Publisher Johannes Bender Patrice Mizeski, New York Nicholas Lipinski Taoufik Gharib Antun Zvonar, New York Tel: +44 (0) 203 301 8201 [email protected] Contributors Editorial Team Aishwarya Agarwal, Pune Heather Bayly, London Johannes Bender, Frankfurt Jennie Brookman, Frankfurt Managing editor Craig Bennett, Melbourne Jo Parker, Toronto Wyn Jenkins Rachit Chauhan, Mumbai Richard Smart, Tokyo Tel: +44 (0)203 301 8214 WenWen Chen, Hong Kong [email protected] Hoyt Crance, New York Charles-Marie Delpuech, London Sub editor Koshiro Emura, Tokyo Giulia Filocca, London Ros Bromwich Taoufik Gharib, New York Robert Greensted, London Design & Production Jean Paul Huby Klein, Frankfurt Garrett Fallon Maren Josefs, London Russell Cox Kalyani Joshi, Mumbai Marc-Philippe Juilliard, Paris Milan Kakkad, Mumbai Cover image: Ali Karakuyu, London Shutterstock / Ellerslie Olivier Karusisi, Paris Saurabh Khasnis, Centennial Eiji Kubo, Tokyo Volker Kudszus, Frankfurt Hardeep Manku, Toronto Mark Nicholson, London Dennis Sugrue, London Eunice Tan, Hong Kong Michael Zimmerman, Centennial The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those shared by costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Content the publisher, Newton Media Limited. 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Global Reinsurance Highlights | 2020 5 Contents 8 Soundbites 10 Reinsurance Outlook Black Swan Or Not, COVID-19 Is Disrupting Global Reinsurers’ Profitability 18 Catastrophe Risk Global Reinsurers Face Threat If COVID-19 Losses Are Followed By A Major Catastrophe 25 Lloyd’s Of London Turning The Supertanker: Underwriting At Lloyd’s Market Changes Course 32 Protection Gap COVID-19 Highlights Global Insurance Protection Gap On Climate Change 37 IFRS 17 Reinsurers And IFRS 17: Getting Balance Sheets Ready And On Time 40 APAC APAC’s Costly Catastrophes: Reinsurance And More Required 46 Investments Investment Caution Has So Far Paid Off For Global Reinsurers 52 North American Investment Stress Test COVID-19 Market Volatility Tests North American Reinsurers’ Resilience 59 Cat Bonds In A Correlated Market, Catastrophe Bonds Stand Out 64 Top 40 By Company 66 Global Reinsurers By Country 76 Ratings Definitions 78 Addresses 6 Global Reinsurance Highlights | 2020 Foreword COVID-19 Pushes Global Reinsurers Further Out On Thin Ice By Johannes Bender and Taoufik Gharib 020 will be remembered for many reasons. The global The Asia-Pacific region’s insurance and reinsurance sector outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, greater investor focus has seen its fair share of weather-induced woes over the past 2on environmental, social, and governance issues, the U.S. two years. In APAC’s Costly Catastrophes: Reinsurance And More election, and a record number of natural catastrophes will all make Required, we discuss regional and global reinsurer’s appetite for their way into the history books. For the global reinsurance sector, the region, and its main challenges and opportunities. 2020 was another tough year. Given that reinsurers exist to take on insurance risks, it is not Because of significant pandemic-related losses, elevated surprising that they are more exposed to underwriting, reserving, natural catastrophe claims, and lower investment returns, the and catastrophe risks than to investment risks. However, their sector will again fail to meet its cost of capital. This follows three investment risk has never been negligible, and a decade of low years in which the sector has struggled to meet its cost of capital interest rates and tough underwriting conditions forced reinsurers due to large natural catastrophe losses, adverse loss trends to increase their appetite for investment risk. In Investment in certain U.S. casualty lines, and fierce competition among Caution Has So Far Paid Off For