1-kevin_odonnell
5 May 2022Insurance

RenRe losses widen in Q1 but CEO bullish on improving market

Losses at reinsurance group  RenaissanceRe widened in the first quarter of 2022, reflecting net negative impact from losses related to the Ukraine war and exposure to numerous natural catastrophes. Its chief executive Kevin O’Donnell (pictured), however, sees reason for optimism in the improving pricing environment with “material” increases across most lines.

RenRe recorded a net loss of $394.4 million for Q1 2022, against a net loss of $731.5 million in the prior-year period.

However, its gross written premium (GWP) increased by 11% to $2.9 billion from $2.7 billion, driven by growth in casualty and specialty.

Similarly, the combined ratio improved by nearly 17 percentage points to 86.5% from 103.1%. This included an impact of 7 percentage points from the Q1 2022 weather-related large losses and 1.8 percentage points related to the Russia-Ukraine war.

O’Donnell said the company had delivered a “solid double digit” operating return while generating profits in both underwriting segments.

“Our balance sheet is strong and all three of our drivers of profit should benefit from improving market conditions: our underwriting from material rate increases across most lines as well as continuing growth in our casualty and specialty segment; our fee income business from the launch of our ground-breaking casualty and specialty joint venture Fontana; and our investment income from rising interest rates.

“We believe that all of these factors will make our financial results increasingly resilient to natural catastrophe volatility and produce superior returns for our shareholders,” he said.

Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Elliot Field at efield@newtonmedia.co.uk or Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Insurance
8 April 2022   The appointee will join its committee responsible for governance and strategy.
Insurance
26 July 2022   Continued low cat rates hold property combined ratio to 57.6%, still up year on year.
Insurance
20 October 2022   The Q3 cat hit fully wipes out year-to-date operating profits.