Reinsurance Rates Up By Average 33 Percent

According to Howden Tiger, risk-adjusted property-catastrophe pricing is up, ranging from 25 to 40 percent as of June 1, with an average increase of 33 percent. Blame it on low levels of capital to risk (that trend is slowing), but global and local pressures are increasing. Some legislative relief in Florida is helping. Nevertheless, loss-affected programs in some cases saw increases exceeding 40 percent. Financial market volatility, inflation, geopolitical tensions and recent weather losses all weighed on underwriters as they allocated capital. Marketing for many 1 June programs began in late January. Dynamics in lower layers remained challenging. Capacity was available given the right structures and prices. Some higher-layer participations were over-subscribed. Higher pricing and additional reinstatement premiums were characteristic of lower layers.