Reinsurers offering ‘significant’ capacity

In the midst of what is clearly a buyer’s market, Alex Teterukovsky, reinsurance manager for If, one of the leading property/casualty insurers in the Nordic region, said the company is being offered significant capacity by reinsurers at good rates.

Despite saying that he has seen little evidence of innovation among reinsurers, he agrees that it is a buyer’s market at the moment and this dynamic has meant it has been able to deepen its links with its traditional partners, which have, in turn, been offering more capacity on good terms.

“In this environment we have more possibilities than ever to strengthen the ties with core partners, eg, the reinsurers who keep providing significant capacity at prices which are acceptable to If in the current market environment,” Teterukovsky said.

This has not prompted the insurer, one of the biggest reinsurance buyers in the region, to change course in its risk-transfer strategy in the past 12 months. Instead, it has simply been looking to optimise its programme where possible.

“There has been no change in our buying habits. If is still one of the biggest reinsurance buyers in the region, and with a stable portfolio and an unchanged underwriting philosophy, we see no immediate need for reassessing our buying principles,” Teterukovsky said.

“However, we are looking at available alternatives for optimising our reinsurance protection and spend.”

In terms of what he expects from the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, he said he expects reinsurers to be very client-focused and intent on maintaining good relationships.

“Reinsurers will be positioning themselves to attract and keep good clients by focusing even more on relevant offerings,” he said.