CORRECTING and REPLACING Best’s Market Segment Report: Swiss Re’s Adoption of IFRS 17 Shuffles the Top Tier in AM Best’s “World’s 50 Largest Reinsurers” Rankings

Business Wire

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The figure for Berkshire Hathaway in the fourth paragraph should read: USD 26.9 billion (instead of USD 26.9 million).

The updated release reads:

BEST’S MARKET SEGMENT REPORT: SWISS RE’S ADOPTION OF IFRS 17 SHUFFLES THE TOP TIER IN AM BEST’S “WORLD’S 50 LARGEST REINSURERS” RANKINGS

Swiss Re’s adoption of IFRS 17 has resulted in some shifts atop AM Best’s rankings of the world’s largest reinsurers, which differ based on accounting standards.

The Best’s Market Segment Report, “World’s 50 Largest Reinsurers,” is a highly recognized part of AM Best’s overall look at the global reinsurance industry ahead of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo. Other reports, including AM Best’s in-depth looks at the insurance-linked securities, Lloyd’s, life/annuity, health and regional reinsurance segments, will be available during August and September.

Swiss Re had previously reported under GAAP standards, but with this change now moves from first among the non-IFRS 17 reporters last year to first among IFRS 17 reporters. This bumped Munich Re from the top spot among IFRS 17 reporters to second, followed by Hannover Rück SE placing third. Swiss Re reported USD 40.5 billion of gross premiums written at year-end 2023 and USD 36.2 billion of reinsurance revenue at year-end 2024. In terms of loss performance, Munich Re led with a non-life reinsurance combined ratio of 77.3, compared to 85.2 for the year prior.

Among the top five non-IFRS 17 players, the most significant change is Berkshire Hathaway moving into the top position, with USD 26.9 billion of gross premiums written, followed by Lloyd’s with USD 23.5 billion. The top 5 IFRS 17 players had a solid performance in 2024, reporting a weighted average combined ratio of 84.9.

Last year’s edition of the World’s 50 Largest Reinsurers report introduced two separate rankings based on gross premiums written for non-IFRS 17 reporting reinsurers and reinsurance revenue for IFRS 17 reporters. This now marks the second full year of financial information being reported under IFRS-17, which has provided AM Best with additional insights into the year-over-year performance of reinsurers ranked in the report.

The report notes that global reinsurers’ results for 2025 will depend upon activity during the Atlantic hurricane season. “The California wildfires in January heavily impacted results for the first quarter, with many reinsurers who had California exposure reporting their worst quarterly underwriting experience in recent years and the impact of the wildfires eroding substantial portions of budgeted catastrophe loads for the year,” said Chris Pennings, financial analyst, AM Best. “As 2025 plays out, the market has witnessed pockets of rate softening among non-loss affected accounts, though rates modestly improved or maintained on loss affected accounts.”

To access the full copy of this market segment report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=356815.

For global reinsurance reports ahead of Rendez-Vous de Septembre, as well as video coverage of the event, please visit AM Best’s Reinsurance Information center.

Lastly, AM Best will host its annual reinsurance market briefing at Rendez-Vous de Septembre on Sept. 7, 2025, at 10:15 a.m. (CEST) in Monte Carlo. For more information, please visit the event website.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.