AM BestTV: Complex Catastrophe Losses Are Having a Wider Impact, Says AM Best Chief Rating Officer

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In this episode of ^AMBestTV, Stefan Holzberger, senior managing director and chief rating officer, AM Best, said recent hurricanes and wildfires created business interruptions and other losses beyond the expectations of modelers, insurers and investors. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=holzberger119 to view the entire program.

At the annual Joint Industry Forum in New York City, Holzberger spoke about what his expectations are for the industry in 2019.

“I think after two very challenging years in 2017 and 2018, from a natural catastrophe perspective, the industry may be reaching an inflection point in 2019 with regard to capacity, rates, and terms and conditions,” said Holzberger. “The insurance industry is used to severe natural catastrophes, but there were some elements of the events over the last couple of years that, to a degree, caught the industry by surprise. By that, I am talking about late last year, with the severity of the California wildfires, which was a peril that was not overly well modeled by the modeling companies.”

Holzberger also discussed AM Best’s market segment outlooks for 2019.

“In the United States, for personal lines, commercial lines and property/casualty reinsurance, AM Best has a stable outlook on all three segments. Although the amount of capacity in the market is a bit of a double-edged sword, AM Best expects that 2019 will be a better rate environment for the property/casualty industry than it has been over the last several years.”

Recent episodes of ^AMBestTV include:

Partial Federal Shutdown Hampers U.S. Insurers’ National Efforts: Attendees at the Insurance Information Institute’s Joint Industry Forum said the partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government is hampering progress on a host of issues, ranging from floods to tariffs: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=jointforum1119.

Property/Casualty Insurers’ Outlook for 2019 Positive, But With a Chance of Upheaval: Attendees at the Insurance Information Institute’s Joint Industry Forum said the industry has demonstrated its ability to weather storms and other natural disasters, but will be buffeted by an increasingly contentious political climate and an advancing technology sector: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=jointforum2119.
Insurance Industry Honors Marsh & McLennan Companies CEO: ‘A Passion for Running to Problems and Solving Them’: Insurance industry executives honor Daniel S. Glaser, president and chief executive officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., as the School of Risk Management’s “2018 Insurance Leader of the Year”: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=insuranceleader119.
AM Best Director Discusses Factors Behind Raised Estimate for Insurance Asbestos and Environmental Exposures: Brian O’Larte, director, AM Best, discusses the reasons behind the rating agency’s increased estimate to $146 billion of net ultimate losses for asbestos and environmental exposures: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=aande119.

^AMBestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^AMBestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information.