Best’s Market Segment Report: MENA Reinsurers: Turbulence Creates Opportunity

Business Wire

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Middle East and North African reinsurers have faced increased turbulence in recent years, creating challenges for some and opportunities for others. The market remains characterised by challenging conditions, overcapacity, and an increase in large loss activity.

In its Best’s Market Segment Report, “MENA Reinsurers: Turbulence Creates Opportunity,” AM Best notes that MENA reinsurers are looking to alter their portfolios in favour of new or less volatile segments, and are seeking to diversify their revenue streams.

Salman Siddiqui, director, analytics, said, “The competitive landscape has shifted over the past year, driven largely by the difficulties encountered by two of the region’s leading reinsurers. Between them, they supplied capacity of USD 600 million (in total shareholders’ capital) to the market, and also had reinsurance operations across the world. As many cedents sought to replace these reinsurers on their reinsurance panels, opportunities opened up for existing competitors looking to increase their line size and diversify their cedent base, as well as for newer competitors to enter the market.”

The report also notes that well-established regional reinsurers have shown resilience to the challenging operating environment. Although their performance has lagged that of their global peers, they continue to ride competitive pressures and carve out market niches to support their operations.

To access the full copy of this market segment report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=290352.

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