Global reinsurance giant Swiss Re has set aside an additional reserve of $400m for the Middle East war.
Mr Anders Malmstrom, Group CFPO of Swiss Re, speaking at a 1Q2026 earnings call, said that in light of geopolitical uncertainties associated with the ongoing Middle East conflict, Swiss Re established around $400m of IBNR reserves to address potential inflationary impact, of which $350m is in P&C Re.
Inflation
He said, “First of all, it's an IBNR for impact that might come as a second-order impact from the Middle East war. We have very negligible first-order impact. So we're not really exposed to any claims coming directly from the war. It's all about the second-order impact, which really would be the inflation.”
Mr Malmstrom also said, “We see the Middle East conflict that creates volatility. Let's take a prudent approach and put some of that money to the site for inflation that we will see somehow.”
He added, “You will see an inflation impact coming from the higher energy prices coming from the disruption in the supply chain. We don't know exactly how much. We don't know for how long this is going to last, but this allowed us now to take that approach as well to then continue that prudent approach.”