Fitch Ratings has revealed plans to focus on insurers' US property/casualty risks during 2003.
Fitch said it would analyse target reserves from US casualty business written after 1997, as well as exposures to asbestos claims from business written prior to the 1980s.
Recent charges for asbestos liability exposures by Travelers and ACE have increased the need for insurers to recognise reserve shortfalls, it said
With this is mind the ratings agency said it plans to accelerate its analyses of reserve data as the issue gains prominence.
Fitch added that it would focus on companies that underwrite risks on a direct basis via the London market.
