Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • October 2013
10

Solvency II fuels catastrophe reinsurance buying boom, says Aon

Open-access content Friday 25th October 2013 — updated 9.02am, Tuesday 5th May 2020

More global life insurers are buying catastrophe reinsurance products ahead of the introduction of Solvency II, Aon has claimed

Its Life catastrophe benchmarking study 2013, published yesterday, survey 290 life insurers across 17 countries in Europe, China, Canada and Japan. Between them, these insurers bought a combined catastrophe reinsurance capacity of €7.5bn in terms of XL per-event treaties. This covers losses above the insurer's retention for all the individual risks within a particular account.

The proportion of companies buying life catastrophe protections increased from 78% in 2011 to 83% in 2013, the survey said.

And the capacity purchased in Europe for XL per-event has grown steadily since 2010, hitting a value of €6.6bn in 2013.

Aon actuary Anne-Lise Bagur said: 'Our study shows that the current capacity in XL per-event cover equates to at €6.6bn in Europe - an increase of 17% since we started the study four years ago.'

She said the figure reflected how the number of companies not taking out reinsurance had decreased from 22% in 2011 to 17% in 2013. 

'We believe Solvency II is the main driver of the increase in reinsurance purchase in Europe, as companies prepare for the forthcoming regulation by buying reinsurance to reduce capital requirements,' added Bagur. 

Aon said the survey would help actuaries verify prices for alternative reinsurance structures and provide insights into purchasing patterns and help with benchmark retentions, quality and price.

The largest purchasers of capacity per event in terms of number of lives covered are Turkey and Israel, mainly due to their exposure to earthquake and terrorism. The earthquake and tsunami that occurred in March 2011 impacted the Japanese market with a 10% increase in rate on line (ROL), the percentage of premium paid for the unit of cover. 

Apart from the Japanese hike and a 13% decrease found in Finland global ROLs have remained stable since 2010 in the studied countries, Aon said.

This article appeared in our October 2013 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
10
Topics
Reinsurance

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

New Fast-Growing Team - Actuarial Systems Development

London (Greater)
Excellent Salary Package
Reference
143762

Actuarial Pension Consultant – Scotland/Remote – Up to £90,000 plus bonus

Edinburgh / Glasgow / Remote working
Up to £90,000 + Bonus
Reference
143761

Part Qualified Pensions Actuary– Specialised Pensions Consultancy - Scotland/Remote - Up to £70,000

Edinburgh / Glasgow / Remote working
Up to £70,000 + Bonus
Reference
143760
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ