The Jan. 1 reinsurance renewals likely will entail rate increases for properties situated in catastrophe-exposed regions, Aspen Re CEO James Few said on a conference call on Wednesday.

Aspen Re is a unit of Hamilton, Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd.

While the reinsurance rate increases will vary by location and line of business, Mr. Few said the changes will be especially evident in areas affected by last year's Superstorm Sandy, where rates may rise 10% to 30% on the accounts that have been directly affected by the storm.

“The industry is adjusting to lessons learned following the 2010-2012 cat events, notably in relation to new insured values in cat-exposed regions of the world, modeling and data calibration around earthquake and flood; and increasing concerns about our ever-changing climate patterns,” Mr. Few said, adding that the rising prices were notable in property catastrophe and casualty lines.

The pricing of reinsurance also has been altered by the other factors including weak investment income and an excess capacity in the primary insurance market, he said.

“There seems to be recognition in the U.S. that the combination of record-breaking cat losses, historically low investment yields, and current rate levels that are still near the bottom of the last soft market are too much for the market to withstand, leading to some attractive opportunities,” he said.

Moreover, the increase in storm-related damage has spurred the company to increase its research and development efforts to help give its underwriters a better understanding of risk and help Aspen Re augment the insights the company derives from models supplied catastrophe-modeling forms, Mr. Few said.

“As recent events have illustrated all too clearly, buying and running vendor models can only provide limited underwriting guidance,” he said. “This is why at Aspen Re, we have, for the last several years, increased our investment in understanding natural hazards and ensuring that these scientific insights inform and alter our underwriting decisions.”