The reinsurance market has seen a largely “orderly” start of the year, with favourable terms and pricing in some sectors, Markel’s Jeremy Noble, President of Insurance, noted as he commented on the company’s recent 1.1 reinsurance renewals, expressing satisfaction with the outcome.
He stated: “With regards to 1.1, where we buy reinsurance, we are overall, pretty pleased. I would call the market orderly in some pockets, such as property, and I’d say our marine and energy out of London. Favourable terms, favourable pricing, good support, and it’s certainly a good outcome that’s an improvement year over year.”
Noble highlighted positive results in securing reinsurance for their professional lines, noting stable pricing despite some market pressures.
“A professional which we placed late in the year, was somewhat flat on pricing,” he commented. “We kept the structure the same. Casualty, probably no surprise there, a little bit of an uptick in pricing. But all in all, good result, good support. We are pleased with the structures we have in place. And we have observed not a lot of change year over year.”
While Noble acknowledged a general firming of prices in some areas, he emphasised that these trends were largely in line with broader market observations.
He said: “As far as the overall pricing conditions and marketplace going into the year, we’re not massive, necessarily on 1.1, and obviously we have a more modest reinsurance book. I would say most of the pricing trends… played true for us as well.”
Noble’s comments follow Markel’s 2024 results, where the company reported an operating income of $3.71 billion for the full year, alongside an improved combined ratio of 95.2%.
Markel also reported an operating loss of $5.3 million for its reinsurance segment at Q4 2024, which was a significant improvement from the $19.2 million loss in 2023.
At the same time, the reinsurance segment also saw a 10% increase in gross premium volume, fuelled by renewal increases and new business in marine and energy, along with new business growth and favourable timing differences in workers’ compensation.
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