Middle East: Property reinsurance capacity of regional players in the spotlight
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Feb 2019
Capacity for property reinsurance from regional reinsurers in the Middle East has been a major issue during the 1 January renewals, according to Willis Re in its 1st View renewals report.
Pro-rata treaty conditions have seen limited improvement for cedants who have been producing stable margins over a period, added the report in highlighting features of the 1 January renewal season. Excess-of-loss pricing has once again come under pressure, and cedants have achieved reductions.
The direct and facultative market in the region has seen major movements with capacity withdrawing. Pricing movements in the underlying direct and facultative market for property classes have witnessed substantial increases for large risks where placements are capacity driven.
In Turkey, the gradual trend of a weakening Turkish lira accelerated in mid-2018, causing some redundancy of Euro limit and punitive minimum deposit premiums, said the report. It noted that the 2019 market purchase (in Euros) in Turkey was significantly reduced, but firm pricing continued from 2018. Proportional renewals were stable despite given income expressed in local currency and limits in Euros. M