Week’s Top Stories: May 15 – 21, 2021 – GC Capital Ideas
Global Insurance Markets: Pricing Increases Moderate in First Quarter: Global commercial insurance prices increased 18 percent. The quarter is the first to show a fall in the average rate of increase since the first rise in global rates in the fourth quarter of 2017. It follows year-on-year average increases of 22 percent in the fourth quarter and 20 percent in the third quarter of 2020.
OmniCAT® Risk Score; Severe Thunderstorm Risk Magnitude Index (SToRMi): Over the last decade, a noteworthy increase in the frequency and severity of severe thunderstorm losses across the central and eastern United States has created a lack of profitability for carriers exposed to these perils. The impact has been amplified by outdated and antiquated catastrophe models lacking the ability to properly assess the current risk.
What If We Applied the Urgency of Solving COVID to Climate Change? It is crucial that companies and the (re)insurance market incorporate climate change into business considerations as investors, ratings agencies and financial regulators apply pressure on firms.
April 2021 Reinsurance Renewals; Japan: At the April 1 reinsurance renewals, property catastrophe pricing increased for the third year in a row. Following the first loss-free year since 2018, there was some consolation for buyers in that the average increase was the lowest of the past three years. Rates moved up on average by a small percentage for mutual buyers.
Chart; Guy Carpenter Global Property Catastrophe Rate-On-Line (ROL) Index – 1990 to 2021: The Guy Carpenter Global Property Catastrophe ROL index was up 4.5 percent year on year, at January 1.
And, you may have missed….
Four Steps to Building a COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy: With COVID-19 surges continuing in many parts of the world and the vaccine supply limited, it is difficult to maintain a vision of the end of this pandemic. That said, vaccines remain the most reliable and widest path out of the current crisis. In most countries, the public sector is predominantly handling the initial mass vaccination rollout; however, the private sector is playing an important role in encouraging vaccinations and, importantly, continued COVID-19 protections.
