Strong Earnings in H1 2024 Continue to Support Positive Outlook on Global P&C Reinsurers

We provide an overview for the H1 2024 results for a selection of major global property and casualty (P&C) reinsurance providers. Global P&C reinsurers reported strong earnings with solid premium and investment income growth, benefitting from the ongoing favourable pricing and interest rate environment. Most of the selected global top P&C reinsurance companies reported significant net income growth in H1 2024 compared with the prior year. Looking ahead, our outlook for the global P&C reinsurance market remains positive, despite high natural catastrophe losses and likely lower interest rates globally.

Key Highlights
-- Global P&C reinsurers reported strong earnings with solid top-line growth driven by favourable pricing environment, notably in property and specialty businesses.

-- While H1 2024 is ranked as one of the costliest half years for natural catastrophe losses in the past 10 years, the selected reinsurers maintained high profitability with disciplined underwriting.

-- Global reinsurers continue to benefit from the high interest rate environment as they reinvest their maturing investment in higher-yielding securities while maintaining the portfolio risk mix.

-- Our outlook for the global P&C reinsurance market remains positive, despite high natural catastrophe losses and the reduction of interest rates.

“The favourable pricing and investment environment will likely continue to benefit the global reinsurers for the rest of the 2024,” says Steve Liu, Assistant Vice President, Global Insurance & Pension Ratings. “However, natural catastrophe losses present a potential headwind for global reinsurers for the rest of 2024 especially as the hurricane season is predicted to be severe, which we believe will add some earning pressures on the industry in H2 2024.”