Global

Best's Market Segment Report: Clouds on the Horizon For 2023, But Trade Credit Insurers are in a Good Place
AM Best believes that the portfolio actions taken since 2020 put trade credit insurers in a good position to manage the economic downturn.
30 January 2023

Best's Special Report: EMEA Benchmarking - Ratings More Volatile in a More Difficult Operating Environment
In this new report, AM Best-rated (re)insurers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are shown to have been more sensitive to market events in 2022 than in previous years.
17 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Outlook: Global Non-Life Reinsurance
Our outlook remains at Stable, owing to positive pricing momentum and growing demand, as well as heightened catastrophe activity and other factors.
31 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Outlook: Global Life Reinsurance
Outlook remains Stable for global life reinsurance segment, reinforced by well capitalized market leaders.
31 March 2023

Best's Special Report: Insurers Continue to Innovate, Albeit to Varying Degrees
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both well-planned and disjointed innovation efforts.
04 April 2023

Best's Special Report: Disclosures Suggest Wide Variation in IFRS 17 Impact on Shareholders' Equity
AM Best notes that the impact of transition to IFRS 17 on shareholders' equity is far more pronounced in the life insurance segment. The range of outcomes is wide for the segment and biased to the downside, although a reduction on transition is far from automatic.
11 May 2023

Best's Special Report: Insurer Innovation Accelerated by COVID-19 Continues Post-Pandemic
Residual economic and societal impacts from the pandemic are spurring insurers' innovation initiatives.
05 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Global Reinsurers Face Challenges Even as Conditions Improve
Optimism is being countered by an uncertain environment due to underwriting, economic, social, and geopolitical factors.
21 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: World's 50 Largest Reinsurers
Munich Re once again sits atop the largest reinsurer rankings.
22 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Dedicated Reinsurance Capital Fluctuates Amid Volatile Market Dynamics
Traditional reinsurance capital declined from USD475 billion at year-end 2021 to USD411 billion at year-end 2022.
24 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Meeting Cost of Capital a Challenge for Some Reinsurers
Reinsurers that can balance long-term strategies with effective tactical decisions and sound risk management can still meet - and even exceed - return expectations.
29 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Fundamentals Drive Growing Demand for Health Reinsurance
Expensive new treatments and therapies, as well as pressure on capital associated with government business, are driving greater demand for health reinsurance.
31 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Catastrophe Bonds Lift a Muted Insurance-Linked Securities Market
Catastrophe bonds remain one of the bright spots in the ILS market.
05 September 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Life/Annuity Reinsurers Remain Prepared for Growth
The industry remains well capitalized and is dominated by the large global players, but faces incremental competition from shifting business models.
06 September 20232

Best's Market Segment Report: The Lloyd's Market Can Point to Measurable Improvements in Underlying Performance
Lloyd's continues to outperform the US and Bermudian reinsurance market and the European Big Four in terms of the loss experience.
07 September 2023

Best's Special Report: Best's Impairment Rate and Rating Transition Study - 1977 to 2022
There were no net impairments in 2022. This is an update of the report originally published in May of 2023.
03 November 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains Positive Outlook on Delegated Underwriting Authority Enterprises Segment
AM Best is maintaining its outlook for the segment at Positive, owing to prospects for sustained growth, among other factors.
27 November 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains Stable Outlook on Global Reinsurance Industry
The outlook for the segment remains at Stable in light of rate improvements and growing demand, countered by concerns about underlying risks.
29 November 2023

Best's Special Report: AM Best Explores Risk Management and Loss Mitigation Opportunities Offered by Parametric Solutions
Parametric products are set to represent a growing share of the insurance world.
20 December 2023

Sub Saharan Africa

Best's Special Report: Economic Challenges Exacerbate Risks Faced by (Re)Insurers in Africa
While AM Best-rated (re)insurers operating in Africa typically hold robust capital buffers, the declining creditworthiness of many African debt issuers has led to increased asset risk and will test the resilience of the continent's (re)insurers' balance sheets.
08 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Heightened Macroeconomic Challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa's Reinsurers While Underwriting Performance Remains Resilient
AM Best finds that, in general, Sub- Saharan Africa's reinsurers have been successful in leveraging the global hardening rate environment.
20 September 2023

Europe

Best's Market Segment Report: P&I Clubs See Improving Underwriting Results but Investment Environment Remains Challenging
AM Best predicts an improvement in Protection & Indemnity (P&I) clubs' underwriting performance for the 2022/23 year, but warn that a difficult investment environment is likely to continue to weigh on earnings.
13 February 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: French Insurers Reconsider Natural Catastrophe Assumptions Following Another Very Expensive Year
Following another very expensive year for insured natural catastrophes in France, there is an emerging consensus among insurers that prior estimates regarding the frequency and severity of natural catastrophes are not reflective of current conditions.
15 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains its Stable Market Segment Outlook for London Market Insurance Segment
AM Best is maintaining its outlook for the London market insurance segment at Stable, and expects strong pricing in key classes to be maintained through 2023.
27 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains Negative Outlook on UK Non-Life Segment
AM Best is maintaining its outlook on the United Kingdom non-life insurance segment at Negative, citing a number of factors that include underwriting performance challenges driven by inflationary pressures, the constraint on insurers to increase premiums amid pressure on household incomes and a highly competitive personal lines market.
03 April 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains Stable Outlook on UK Life Insurance Segment
AM Best is maintaining its Stable outlook for the United Kingdom (UK) life insurance segment, citing a number of factors, including the strong pipeline for pension risk transfers, sufficient capitalisation to fund projected medium-term expansion, and rising interest rates.
17 April 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Spain Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining a Negative outlook for the Spanish life insurance segment.
12 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Spain Non-Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining its Negative outlook for the Spanish non-life insurance segment.
12 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: France Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining a Negative outlook on the French life insurance segment.
22 June 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: France Non-Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining its Negative outlook on the French non-life insurance segment.
22 June 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Explores the Growth Potential for Delegated Underwriting Authority Enterprises in Europe
Delegated underwriting authority enterprises are playing an increasingly significant role in insurance markets across Europe, thanks to interest from a broader range of capacity providers, as well as advances in technology.
02 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Italy Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining a Negative outlook on the Italian life insurance market.
31 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Italy Non-Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining its Negative outlook on the Italian non-life insurance segment.
31 May 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Europe's Big Four Reinsurers Benefit from Hard Market Conditions
The European Big Four reinsurers - Munich Re, Hannover Re, Swiss Re and SCOR - are benefiting from the hard market conditions evident during the 2023 renewals.
30 August 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Big Names Dominate European Insurance Landscape As Overall Profits Slip
Most of the groups in AM Best's cohort of the largest European non-life insurers reported lower profit after tax, mainly driven by a negative impact on investment results as well as the effect of claims inflation.
17 October 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Captive Insurer Numbers Set to Grow in Europe as More Jurisdictions Seek to Lure Companies
There has been an uptick in the number of captive insurers in Europe, as existing domiciles remain popular and other jurisdictions work to attract fresh companies.
06 November 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Germany Non-Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining its Negative outlook on the German non-life insurance segment.
18 December 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Market Segment Outlook: Germany Life Insurance
AM Best is maintaining a Negative outlook on the German life insurance market.
18 December 2023

Middle East, North Africa and South & Central Asia

Best's Commentary: Devastating Earthquakes Add to an Already Challenging Operating Environment for (Re)insurers in Türkiye
The impact of two earthquakes in south-eastern Turkiye is another blow for the country's (re)insurance industry that was already under severe strain.
07 February 2023

Best's Market Segment Outlook: AM Best Maintains Stable Outlook on Gulf Cooperation Council Insurance Markets
AM Best is maintaining its Stable market segment outlook for the insurance markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This reflects the GCC insurance market's solid footing entering 2023; however, the weight of headwinds facing the market is increasing.
05 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Intense Price Competition Erodes Profitability of United Arab Emirates-listed Insurers in 2022
AM Best notes that premium growth among listed national insurers in the United Arab Emirates did not materialise into a similar increase in aggregate underwriting profits in 2022.
06 March 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: Egypt's Insurance Market Grows in Spite of Difficult Economic Conditions
Egypt's new Insurance Act is expected to make a positive impact on the insurance market through increased capital requirements and a more flexible process for introducing best practice governance requirements.
19 July 2023

Best's Commentary: Industry-Backed Solutions Likely to Support Morocco Earthquake Relief Despite Low Insurance Penetration
The Moroccan Solidarity Fund for Catastrophic Events is covered by a parametric insurance scheme that covers earthquake events, and is expected to be triggered.
15 September 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: MENA Reinsurers Report Topline Growth, While Challenging Economic Conditions Persist for Most
Achieving consistently strong underwriting returns has been a historical challenge for MENA reinsurers, however, recent market conditions favour the region's reinsurers.
19 September 2023

Best's Commentary: AM Best Issues FAQ on Its National Scale Ratings
AM Best's National Scale Rating is a relative measure of financial strength.
09 October 2023

Asia-Pacific

Best's Commentary: Philippines Insurers' Adoption of ORSA Standards a Credit Positive
ORSA requirements will bring Philippines' regulatory standards closer to advanced regimes.
22 February 2023

Best's Market Segment Outlook: AM Best Maintains Stable Outlook on Gulf Cooperation Council Insurance Markets
Outlook remains Stable as profits improve for long-term insurance and auto remains under control despite post-COVID traffic increase.
27 June 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Revises Outlook on Philippines Non-Life Insurance Market to Negative
Outlook revised to Negative due primarily to constraints imposed by reinsurance capacity, pricing, and terms.
24 July 2023

Best's Commentary: Hong Kong 1-in-500-Year Flood Likely to Have Earnings Impact on Insurers
Losses due to the flooding may further pressure upcoming reinsurance renewals.
13 September 2023

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains Negative Outlook on Indonesia's Non-Life Insurance Segment
Our outlook remains Negative owing partly to heightened reinsurance credit risk.
9 October 2023

Best's Special Report: Chinese Insurers' Investment Trends Remain Conservative
Insurers continue to focus on deriving strategic value from long-term equity investments.
11 October 2023