Retentions must rise, prices must increase in response to Ian and inflation

The impact of Hurricane Ian underlines just how urgent it is to redress and adjust reinsurance structures, pricing and retentions as the industry moves toward the 1/1 renewal, Paul Murray (pictured), chief executive officer Reinsurance Asia, Swiss Re, told Intelligent Insurer.

He noted Swiss Re had seen the “very prominent” impact of Ian in its Q3 results. He acknowledged that reinsurers have an important role helping society by absorbing volatility after big catastrophic events and helping create resilience—but he stressed that Swiss Re is a shareholder-owned company.

“We take these risks, and we suffer from losses periodically. But we need to make good money over a reasonable period of time. Ian underlines the importance of redressing the priorities as we go into the next renewal,” Murray said.