JLT Re releases its annual report on the outcomes of the January 2007 renewals, “2007: A Year of Plenty?”...
JLT Re has released its annual report on the outcomes of the January 2007 renewals, “2007: A Year of Plenty?”.
The report reveals that at the January 2006 renewals, reinsurance rates remained flat or showed modest decline on most classes, except US property catastrophe reinsurance where reinsurers sought to bring rates in line with the higher levels achieved in July 2006. A retrocessional shortage for this class is a key contributing factors.
While the market appears to have achieved underwriting discipline in most classes, the report questions whether the industry is over-capitalised for the current level of demand, and if so what impact the excess capital may have on its future performance.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Alan Griffin, chairman and chief executive of JLT Reinsurance Brokers Limited said: "This is an interesting time for the reinsurance market. We are seeing a shortage of capacity for conventional US catastrophe protection and, at the same time, a surfeit of capital for almost every other class in every other market. The question is, what is the industry going to do over the next few months to restore the equilibrium."
