Renewals were ‘extraordinarily competitive’ says PartnerRe

PartnerRe’s renewal book shrank slightly in the January renewals with its catastrophe book in North America seeing the biggest declines. It said it felt it had maintained its position, however, in the face of very competitive conditions.

The company said it expects to write and bind approximately $2.7 billion of non-life treaty premium from the January renewal season.

On a constant foreign exchange basis, this represents a decrease of 1 percent from the renewable premium base. However, in North America renewals, PartnerRe posted a decrease of 3 percent, with its catastrophe book decreasing by 5 percent.

PartnerRe renews approximately 70 percent of its total annual non-life treaty business on January 1. The remainder is comprised of treaty business that renews at other times during the year. In addition to treaty business, it writes approximately $400 million of facultative business which renews through-out the year.

David Zwiener, PartnerRe interim chief executive officer, said: “Our teams did an excellent job of maintaining PartnerRe’s position at the January 1 renewal. Market conditions were extraordinarily competitive in many lines, particularly around terms and conditions, and there were several instances where we didn’t renew business that no longer met our risk-adjusted return requirements.

“Nevertheless - and in spite of the very difficult operating environment - our teams still managed to find attractive new business to hold our overall renewal premium relatively steady. This clearly reflects the strength of our franchise and the quality of our relationships with clients and brokers.”