Lippe sticks by prediction of more insurer consolidation following Solvency II
“Negotiation will prevail” during the 2011 reinsurance renewals, Swiss Re chief underwriting officer Brian Gray told the Reinsurance Rendez-Vous in Monte Carlo.
Gray said reinsurance buyers were continuing to hold back on purchasing and retain more of their own risk to allow for growth.
Excess capital and low interest rates would stifle prices, he said. “The environment is likely to be choppy. Broad-brush market movement is not expected in the run-up to the January renewals.”
Swiss Re “continues to have a strong risk appetite in all the lines of business we write”, he added.
Meanwhile, Swiss Re chief Stefan Lippe reiterated his prediction that Solvency II would drive demand for reinsurance and that more insurer consolidation would take place.
He said: “Insurance demand in emerging markets is increasing, while the developed markets remain stable. Many societies face pension funding crises and insurers need to find ways of coping with regulation.”
