The combined ratio for U.S. reinsurers improved nearly nine points for the first three months of the year, an association survey revealed.
Twenty-two domestic reinsurers queried by the Reinsurance Association of America posted an aggregate combined ratio of 89.9, compared with 98.4 for a similar group in the first three months of last year.
The reinsurers wrote $6.7 billion of net premiums during the first three months of the year, compared with $6.5 billion in the first quarter of 2006.
A report put out by Bank of America Securities underscored the improving reinsurance picture. Property-casualty analyst Kevin O'Donoghue said he is taking a more positive view of the industry following a discussion with 14 reinsurance brokers.
“We believe the market remains firm enough for reinsurers to write business at expected returns above historical levels and to produce strong book-value growth–the metric that ultimately drives success–through 2007,” he wrote.
In addition, the reinsurance industry's reserve position continues to be strong.
“The increases in incurred-but-not-reported reserves gives us confidence that continued prior-period development is more likely than adverse development at this time,” Mr. O'Donoghue wrote.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
