AM Best

AM Best: “New names” coming into large Latin American reinsurance programs

The trend for global reinsurers to exit or limit Latin American business has opened up opportunities for domestic reinsurers and those outside the region to participate in lower layers, AM Best has highlighted in a new report.

AM Best: Mutuals facing “yet another challenging year” in 2022

A new report from AM Best reveals pure losses for US mutual insurers increased 11.5 percent to $179.7bn in 2021, with the rating agency warning that 2022 “is shaping up to be yet another challenging year”.

AM Best: Florida specialists’ losses ceded to reinsurers up more than fourfold since 2018

A new AM Best commentary reveals that premiums assumed by US (re)insurers from Florida specialists grew 66 percent over a three-year period but losses increased fourfold, with the rating agency nonetheless concluding that total Florida exposure “is still likely manageable for reinsurers”.

AM Best: US insurers hold less than 3% of outstanding cat bonds

An analysis from AM Best has revealed that US insurers hold only $850mn of the roughly $33bn of outstanding cat bonds, or 2.6 percent, despite the higher returns offered by this asset class.

AM Best turns negative on personal lines as inflationary pressures hit auto hard

Rating agency AM Best has soured in its outlook on the personal lines market, shifting its view on the segment to negative in response to soaring loss cost severity, a restrictive regulatory environment, the impact of secondary perils, and elevated reinsurance costs.

AM Best: US P&C industry swings to $6.3bn H1 UW loss

AM Best has reported that the US P&C industry swung to a $6.3bn underwriting loss for the first six months of 2022, a sharp reversal from the $5.1bn underwriting gain in the first half of last year, as the sector suffered worsening results in personal auto.

AM Best revises Citadel and AMIC implications to developing on capital raise delay

A delay to Citadel Re and its subsidiary American Millennium Insurance Company (AMIC)’s planned external capital raise has been highlighted by AM Best after the agency revised the implications on the two companies’ financial strength (FSR) and long-term issuer credit ratings (ICR) from negative to developing.

AM Best: Two-thirds of H1 cat bond deals upsized from initial guidance

AM Best in a new report on the ILS market has highlighted that cat bond pricing hardened in the first half of 2022 as investors required higher compensation for the capital they provided to sponsors, with more tranches that could not be placed compared to prior years.

AM Best places IRB’s A- FSR under review with negative implications

AM Best has put IRB Brasil Re’s A- financial strength and “a-“ long-term issuer credit ratings under review with negative implications as the reinsurer looks to address a 36 percent capital shortfall at mid-year 2022 with initiatives including a proposed share offering.

AM Best: Caribbean insurers face economic headwinds and reinsurance hardening

Caribbean insurers posted favourable earnings in 2021, AM Best has noted in a new report, but they remain “highly vulnerable” to a global economic slowdown and cyber risks while also facing rising reinsurance costs.

AM Best: Reinsurance capital to drop in 2022, utilisation to increase

AM Best has predicted a drop in traditional reinsurance capital for 2022 as a result of expectations for depressed investment markets, continued geopolitical turmoil and a potential decline in global gross domestic product, while capital utilisation will hit its highest figure in recent history.

Swiss Re &quote;well positioned&quote; as A+ FSR affirmed by AM Best

Swiss Re "well positioned" as A+ FSR affirmed by AM Best

Swiss Re is well positioned to take advantage of improving reinsurance market conditions, AM Best said as it affirmed the industry giant’s A+ financial strength and “aa” long-term issuer credit ratings.

Porch terminates $49mn acquisition of CSE from Covéa

Covéa and Porch Group have executed a mutual termination of the agreement for the latter to acquire California-based CSE Insurance Group, with AM Best responding by keeping CSE’s ratings under review with developing implications.

AM Best downgrades Florida carrier Bankers

After finally getting its Demotech rating affirmed at A earlier this month, Bankers Insurance has had its B++ financial strength rating downgraded to B+ by AM Best.

Munich Re holds on to top spot in AM Best top 50 reinsurer ranking

Munich Re has remained in the top spot in AM Best’s global ranking of the largest reinsurers as the top 50 recorded premium growth of almost 10 percent in 2021, but the rating agency commented that growth in next year’s ranking could be countered by companies starting to shrink their property catastrophe exposure.

AM Best warns of cat capacity crunch as investor caution builds

Few investors are likely to feel comfortable deploying capital for catastrophe risks regardless of the price if 2022 proves to be another active year for losses, AM Best has warned in a new report examining the reinsurance landscape.

Mexico’s GMX has ratings removed from under review by AM Best

AM Best has removed Grupo Mexicano de Seguros (GMX)’s B++ rating from under review with negative implications, with the insurer benefiting from a settlement reached with the Mexico City Metro over a major claim and the recovery of some of the loss from reinsurers.

Kemper downgraded to A- by AM Best on earnings deterioration

AM Best has downgraded Kemper’s financial strength rating to A- (Excellent) from A (Excellent) following the insurer, which has a heavy auto focus, reporting prolonged earnings deterioration resulting from elevated inflation and supply chain disruptions.

Singapore Re wins AM Best upgrade after rare appeal victory

AM Best has upgraded Singapore Re’s financial strength rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent), with the rating agency taking the action after an accepted appeal from the Fairfax subsidiary.

US captive composite continues to deliver gains amid capacity and pricing challenges

The US captive insurance sector outperformed its commercial market peers in 2021 with continued profits and surplus gains throughout the year, according to a new report from AM Best.

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