Global reinsurance sector absorbed record-high losses in 2011: IAIS

The reinsurance sector absorbed record-high losses in 2011 with a smaller impact on equity capital than in 2005, the former record-setting year with respect to Nat CATs, said the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) in its first-ever Global Insurance Market Report (GIMAR).

The report documents the reinsurance industry’s resilience, looking into the sector’s development during and after two major Nat CAT episodes in 2005 and 2011. The GIMAR also records the performance of primary insurers and reinsurers as well as key developments in the global insurance market.

Peter Braumuller, Chairman of the IAIS Executive Committee, said “As the global insurance standard setter, the IAIS and its Members – who represent almost 200 insurance supervisory authorities – are committed to promoting effective and globally consistent supervision and contributing to global financial stability.”

The GIMAR combines an analysis of publicly available data and confidential data submitted by global reinsurers and covers a period between 2007 and 2011. The report shows that global primary insurers and reinsurers have been affected by the financial crisis and by the subsequent recession in many economies around the world.

However, the data also shows that the industry has been resilient in the face of adverse developments. For example, the primary insurers and reinsurers surveyed in the GIMAR data-set achieved sizeable performance improvements after the sharp downturn in 2008 and at the end of 2011 they appear to be better capitalised than at the beginning of the financial crisis.

The GIMAR approximates overall industry performance through a sample of 20 globally active insurers and reinsurers, as well as confidential data collected from 48 large global reinsurers. The IAIS expects to increase the report’s sample size in future issues of GIMAR, which are currently scheduled to be released twice yearly beginning next spring.