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The agency cited falling property rates and US casualty challenges. -
There may be pain yet to come as claims start to bleed into an underpriced market.
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Reinsurers are pushing for cat signings and hoping the new pricing floor will hold.
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Insurance Insider looks at key drivers of supply-demand dynamics in global specialty markets.
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Tom Wakefield says there is scope for opportunistic reinsurance purchases in 2026.
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The pricing battle has been played out but the extent of new demand will only show up in 2026.
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The influx of capital, combined with a quiet wind season, led to favorable conditions for cedants during 1.1 renewals.
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Price has become a key differentiator in marine and energy.
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Cedants pursued property renewals “aggressively” amid excess reinsurer capacity.
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The market is conceding some ground on wordings, after a tightening of conditions post-Ukraine.
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Global insurance premiums reached an all-time high of $15.3bn by year end 2024.
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All-risks premium increases are now understood to be in the 15% to 20% range.
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The chief of market performance urged underwriters not to follow the herd.
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Despite 2025 losses, carriers have not secured desired rate increases.
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Willis reports that the mining market has softened at a ‘considerable rate’ this year.
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The sector also faces a potential $700mn loss from a fatal Indonesian mining catastrophe.
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Loss activity in the upstream market remains benign, adding to softening.
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The agency cited moderating premium growth and selective underwriting capacity as factors behind the downgrade.
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Executives also agreed that facilitisation is a structural market change.
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Innovation emerged as the critical target for attracting new business to London.
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The Aspen exec highlighted the London market’s long-standing reputation for innovation.
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Patrick Tiernan was addressing 400+ delegates at the London Market Conference.
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From top-line challenges to finding new ways to scale, 2025 has been a year of market shifts.
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Rate decreases are often in double digits, but high loss trends and systemic risk persist.
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Brokers may encourage clients to capitalise on falling rates by boosting coverage.
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Property pricing fell by 8%, while casualty rate increases tapered to 3%.
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Property, cyber and workers’ comp rates were all down mid-single digits, offsetting casualty hardening.
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Property underwriters are ‘competing fiercely’ to access mining risks.
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As both carriers and reinsurers deal with softening markets, all eyes are on hurricane-prone areas.
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The veteran underwriter said market conditions are still ‘robust’.
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Global pricing is now 22% below the mid-2022 peak.
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Cedants target methods of reducing pressure on earnings as reinsurers chase growth.
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Geopolitical turbulence brings new challenges that primary specialty lines carriers urgently need to address.
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Being conservative and stable is the name of the reinsurer’s game.
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Scale is increasingly becoming a differentiator for reinsurance carriers, the broker noted.
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Despite high profile losses, there’s ample capacity in marine and aviation, while PV has seen healthy profits.
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Litigation funders are promoting “aggressive” tactics in the UK, Holland and Israel.
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The company, however, sets a high bar on making a move.
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Earnings covers do not need to equal aggregate reinsurance deals, the broker said.
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Reinsurers are ready to draw a line under a worsening claim outlook across the casualty market.
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Excess capacity will sustain softer rates, as organic growth challenges lead to more M&A chatter.
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Reinsurance CEO Wakefield said reinsurance structures may evolve for prolonged growth.
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Agency reactions ranged from Fitch revising down its sector outlook to AM Best keeping a positive outlook.
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Terms are expected to hold, underpinning the stronger recent performance of reinsurers.
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Rates will remain elevated in a period of structurally higher risk premia.
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Growth in the SME sector could help stabilize the market, however.
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Cyber reinsurance supply has continued to outstrip demand during 2025.
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Some 32% of survey respondents expect property cat rates to fall by more than 7.5%.
