Kuwait Re has unveiled its new corporate identity, underlining its strategy and vision to be a reinsurer of choice. Its new logo reflects the company’s three main values of: being dynamic, inclusive and solid.
“This new image does not change the essence of Kuwait Re. Rather, it organises our thoughts and efforts toward our vision of becoming a reinsurer of preference,” said its CEO Dawoud Al Duwaisan. “During the past year, we have been enhancing our systems and processes while maintaining business organisation and consistency, striving always to keep our sight on our three main values.”
In 2017, Kuwait Re demonstrated significant progress in realigning its portfolio mix toward facultative and excess of loss business, with these two lines of business accounting for 58% of the KWD35.1 million ($116.1m) GWP during the year.
In addition, while Kuwait Re has predominantly been a non-life reinsurer, increased diversification has arisen from the significant growth in the company’s life reinsurance operations in 2017, noted A.M. Best as it affirms the Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” of Kuwait Re. The outlook of these credit ratings remains stable.
The ratings reflect Kuwait Re’s balance-sheet strength, which the ratings agency categorises as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.
The company’s balance-sheet strength benefits from prudent reserving practices and good levels of liquidity, as evidenced by a ratio of liquid assets to net technical reserves of 110% at the end of 2017. Capital consumption is driven by underwriting risks, due to high premium retention, and investment risks, as a result of exposure to private equity and real estate. These investment holdings expose the company’s capital base to volatility, which is considered an offsetting factor to the balance sheet strength assessment, said the ratings agency.
Kuwait Re benefits from a track record of adequate operating performance. The company’s return on equity for 2017 stood at 6.9%, in excess of the five-year average (2013-2017) of 4.7%, reflecting the volatility stemming from the underwriting activities over recent years. While the balance of earnings has traditionally been skewed toward investment income, the implementation of strategic decisions to rationalise Kuwait Re’s operations, including a shift to more profitable business, is expected to translate into improved technical performance, which should reduce volatility in prospective operating results. M
KWD1 = $3.31