Reinsurers to see ROE losses from third-quarter catastrophes: Best

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Reinsurers will see higher combined ratios and lower returns on equity due to losses sustained from the string of catastrophes during the third quarter of 2017, according to a report released Wednesday by A.M Best Co. Inc.

For the full year of 2017, A.M. Best’s Global Reinsurance composite is anticipated to deliver a combined ratio of approximately 110% and a return on equity measure somewhere between 0% and minus 5%, compared with a five-year average combined ratio of approximately 91% and a five-year average return on equity of approximately 11%, said the report, Global Reinsurance — Where Have All the Losses Gone?

Further, according to the report, the last time the global reinsurance composite reported a combined ratio above 100% was in 2011 after a series of global catastrophes, including the Japanese and New Zealand earthquakes and flooding in Thailand.

The sector, according to Best, “has reserved these loss events with the assumption that these losses accumulate to roughly $90 billion,” referring to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the earthquake that hit Mexico on Sept. 19.