Welcome to #ReinsuranceMonth

Welcome to the start of The Insurer’s #ReinsuranceMonth 2021 and our first of five weekly editions.

What is #ReinsuranceMonth? Well, it is a smorgasbord of news, intelligence, viewpoints, debate, ideas and analysis on the global P&C reinsurance industry throughout the month of September.

It includes a weekly pdf, over 20 televised interviews with industry leaders, as well as panel debates and discussions on key themes including, of course, thoughts on the upcoming 1 January renewals.

Download Issue One: 1-7 September

It is now in its second year. In 2020, we launched the first #ReinsuranceMonth in the aftermath of the landfall of Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 hurricane which came ashore in Louisiana with 150mph winds.

Fast-forward 12 months, and we begin the second #ReinsuranceMonth against a similar backdrop. Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on 29 August as a Category 4 storm, the first time on record a US state has seen two consecutive years with a landalling storm with winds of 150mph or more (it was also 16 years to the day that Hurricane Katrina hit the state).

The fallout from Ida will take time to evolve. Over the coming pages we bring you some of the early ramifications of the storm’s impacts on the (re)insurance industry.

Much has changed since the first #ReinsuranceMonth, but equally, many things remain the same. The industry for the most part continues to operate in a virtual world and renewal negotiations will once again be more digital than in person.

There remains uncertainty over Covid-19 reinsurance losses – primarily business interruption and casualty. While a series of test cases have brought some clarity to primary claims, it is still not clear the extent to which cedants will be able to recover from their reinsurers for these claims. The can was kicked down the road at last year’s 1 January renewal on this issue and there are no signs of resolution at present. Will it be kicked down the road once again?

Many of those who were engaged in fundraising initiatives a year ago are now up and running and looking to capitalise on what is expected to be continued hard market conditions at upcoming renewals.

The reinsurance broking space has realigned with Gallagher Re’s proposed acquisition of Willis Re and the movement of several important teams among brokers.

Hard market conditions have largely persisted and reinsurers will continue to look for more rate during the renewal discussions that effectively begin this month. Alongside the impact of Ida, the recent run of European catastrophe losses and continued concerns over social inflation in the US casualty space will likely add fuel to renewal conversations.

We will examine all of these issues and more across #ReinsuranceMonth. In this edition, we present exclusive news including details around Scor’s bellwether 1 January XoL retro renewal and examine the early implications of Hurricane Ida.

We also hear from several senior executives, including Convex co-founder Paul Brand, about their view of market conditions and expectations for upcoming renewals.

We will also be analysing in detail other issues that dominate our sector including the potential impact of a resurgent ILS market on rates and what exactly ESG means from an underwriting perspective.

We begin by looking at 12 themes that will be prominent within our #ReinsuranceMonth coverage and within discussions ahead of the upcoming 1 January renewals.

Thank you for your continued support, and we hope you find #ReinsuranceMonth informative and helpful.