Insurers in the MENA region need to change the way they write business if they wish to remain viable clients for their local reinsurers. Intelligent Insurer spoke to Michael Gertsch, chief executive officer at Dubai-based reinsurer Gulf Re, about the need for change in this growing market.
For the last five years, reinsurers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have observed a continuous deterioration of terms and conditions. This trend now appears to be slowing, with corrections occurring on some lines of business.
On the treaty side in particular, several programmes that expired on December 31, 2012, had still not been placed by the middle of January. This was because poor results on the underlying portfolio make the business unprofitable for reinsurers and negotiations are continuing, says Michael Gertsch, chief executive officer at Gulf Re.
He believes that this will ultimately translate into a need for insurers to adjust the terms of policies, particularly on motor and medical policies—two of the largest growing segments in the market.
MENA, Michael Gertsch, Reinsurance, Gulf Re
