Reinsurer Capital Hits Record $575 Billion, Aon Benfield Says
(Bloomberg) — Capital available for reinsurance coverage hit a record $575 billion at the end of the third quarter, placing pressure on prices, according to broker Aon Benfield.
Capital rose 6.5 percent from $540 billion at the end of 2013, the reinsurance brokerage unit of London-based Aon Plc said in a report today. Alternative capital from sources such as pension funds, which compete with reinsurers such as Munich Re, Swiss Re AG and Hannover Re, rose 25 percent to a record $62 billion in the period.
“The price of traditional reinsurance, particularly property-catastrophe reinsurance has fallen in response to disruptive alternative capital that has grown in influence to become a price maker rather than a price taker,” Aon Benfield said in the report.
Reinsurers, which help primary insurers such as Allianz SE and Axa SA cover the costs of damage claims, are under pressure as lower losses from natural disasters and a greater availability of capital weigh on prices.
To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Suess in Munich at osuess@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Bentley at mbentley3@bloomberg.net Jon Menon
