Munich Re is the largest IFRS 17 reporting reinsurer, but Swiss Re is top of the list as the largest non-IFRS 17 reporting reinsurer, according to rating agency AM Best.
The rating agency released its list of top 50 reinsurers for 2023, which was largely the same at the top end of the scale, except for the addition of IFRS 17-compliant insurers which introduced a layer of complication to the annual analysis.
Top of the IFRS list were Munich Re, Hannover and Scor while local GAAP leaders were Swiss Re, Berkshire Hathaway and Lloyd's.
AM Best said the transition to IFRS 17 had diminished the comparability among reinsurers but things should normalise a bit more next year. Swiss Re, for one, has migrated to IFRS reporting from the start of this year.
Under the old IFRS 4 accounting method, re/insurers reported information about premiums written and earned, which was generally comparable with US GAAP reporting peers. Under IFRS 17, re/insurers report information about insurance revenue, which is composed of different components from premium written and earned in IFRS 4.
"Although the new standard impacts only 15 of the companies included in the list in 2023, the change from IFRS 4 to IFRS 17 has added complexity to financial performance comparison amongst all reinsurers," AM Best said.
AM Best said the global reinsurance industry is in the midst of a "generational hard market" that has driven the significant growth for many reinsurers in the last year.
The hard market conditions were reignited by hurricane Ian and substantial secondary peril events in 2022 and significant rate increases as well as a tightening of terms and conditions continued through the 2023 renewals. Added to these, mark-to-market unrealised fixed-income investment losses, loss cost and social inflation, and global macroeconomic uncertainty caused a substantial imbalance in reinsurance supply and demand dynamics. In aggregate, these factors resulted in significant growth in premium volume, underwriting income and net income.
Table 1: Top reinsurance groups ($m), 2023
| Non-IFRS 17 Rank | IFRS 17 Rank | Company Name | Reinsurance Premiums (GPW) | Reinsurance Revenue (Gross) | Total Shareholders Funds2 | Combined Ratio3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Swiss Re Ltd. | 40,503 | 16,371 | 94.1 | ||
| 1 | Munich Reinsurance Co4 | 32,921 | 32,863 | 85.2 | ||
| 2 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | 27,453 | 567,509 | 84.0 | ||
| 2 | Hannover Rück SE | 26,995 | 12,164 | 94.0 | ||
| 3 | Lloyd's5,6 | 22,075 | 56,869 | 80.2 | ||
| 3 | SCOR S.E. | 17,575 | 5,213 | 85.0 | ||
| 4 | Reinsurance Group of America Inc | 14,281 | 9,171 | N/A | ||
| 5 | RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.7 | 12,340 | 9,455 | 78.0 | ||
| 6 | Everest Re Group Ltd. | 11,460 | 13,202 | 86.4 | ||
| 7 | Arch Capital Group Ltd. | 9,113 | 18,353 | 81.5 | ||
| 8 | PartnerRe Ltd. | 9,102 | 8,424 | 81.7 | ||
| 4 | China Reinsurance (Group) Corp | 5,986 | 14,453 | 93.5 | ||
| 9 | MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc8,9,12 | 5,777 | 13,814 | 98.7 | ||
| 10 | General Insurance Corp of India8 | 4,544 | 10,283 | 111.7 | ||
| 11 | MAPFRE RE, Compañía de Reaseguros S.A.10 | 4,295 | 2,553 | 97.2 | ||
| 5 | Assicurazioni Generali SpA | 4,204 | 34,532 | 107.4 | ||
| 6 | Korean Reinsurance Co | 3,979 | 2,505 | 95.5 | ||
| 12 | Odyssey Group Holdings, Inc | 3,741 | 5,963 | 89.5 | ||
| 7 | Canada Life Re | 3,560 | 22,535 | N/A | ||
| 13 | R+V Versicherung AG11 | 3,447 | 2,646 | 98.1 | ||
| 14 | Pacific LifeCorp | 3,212 | 9,767 | N/A | ||
| 15 | Liberty Mutual13 | 3,029 | 25,060 | 95.9 | ||
| 8 | Sompo International Holdings, Ltd. | 2,974 | 10,371 | 75.5 | ||
| 9 | AXA XL | 2,814 | 12,651 | 80.0 | ||
| 16 | The Toa Reinsurance Co, Limited8,9 | 2,344 | 2,689 | 98.4 | ||
| 17 | AXIS Capital Holdings Limited | 2,216 | 5,263 | 107.6 | ||
| 18 | Convex Group Limited | 2,115 | 3,157 | 74.6 | ||
| 19 | Deutsche Rückversicherung AG12 | 1,945 | 364 | 99.6 | ||
| 20 | American Agricultural Insurance Co | 1,896 | 712 | 102.0 | ||
| 21 | Allied World Assurance Co Holdings, Ltd. | 1,849 | 5,670 | 88.9 | ||
| 22 | Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.8,14 | 1,571 | 16,622 | 95.9 | ||
| 10 | Peak Reinsurance Co Ltd | 1,556 | 1,282 | 87.3 | ||
| 23 | Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited | 1,521 | 2,909 | 81.4 | ||
| 24 | W.R. Berkley Corp15 | 1,411 | 7,455 | 82.1 | ||
| 25 | Qianhai Reinsurance Co., Ltd. | 1,372 | 500 | 99.6 | ||
| 26 | Ascot Group Ltd. | 1,362 | 1,869 | 149.6 | ||
| 11 | IRB - Brasil Resseguros S.A. | 1,344 | 878 | 99.5 | ||
| 27 | CCR Re | 1,309 | 885 | 96.9 | ||
| 12 | QBE Insurance Group Limited | 1,301 | 9,953 | 100.7 | ||
| 28 | DEVK Gruppe | 1,277 | 2,835 | 95.1 | ||
| 29 | SiriusPoint Ltd. | 1,271 | 2,531 | 80.0 | ||
| 13 | Taiping Reinsurance Co. Ltd9 | 1,206 | 1,410 | 94.9 | ||
| 30 | Chubb Limited | 1,151 | 63,691 | 75.6 | ||
| 31 | Somers Re Ltd. | 1,048 | 1,111 | 94.1 | ||
| 32 | Markel Corp | 1,047 | 15,056 | 101.9 | ||
| 14 | African Reinsurance Corp | 1,046 | 1,066 | 87.7 | ||
| 33 | Core Specialty Insurance Holdings, Inc | 1,037 | 1,124 | 106.4 | ||
| 15 | Hiscox Ltd | 970 | 3,297 | 68.3 | ||
| 34 | Ark Insurance Holdings Ltd. | 966 | 1,107 | 92.5 | ||
| 35 | Hamilton | 839 | 2,048 | 68.4 | ||
| Source: AM Best data and research | ||||||
- All non-USD currencies converted to USD using foreign exchange rate at year-end 2023.
- As reported in the group's annual statement.
- Non-life only.
- Munich Re's results in prior years included global specialty insurance; the revenue associated with this line was removed from reinsurance revenues for year-end 2023.
- Reflects total reinsurance premium written by all syndicates in the Lloyd's market. The above list includes insurance groups that write reinsurance business in the Lloyd's market. As such, reinsurance premium is included in both the insurance group's premium figure and the Lloyd's market's premium figure.
- Shareholders' funds includes Lloyd's members' assets and Lloyd's central reserves.
- RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd completed its acquisition of Validus Re in October of 2023. 2023 Premiums for Validus were included on a pro-forma basis.
- Fiscal year ended March 31, 2024.
- Net asset value used for shareholders' funds.
- Premium data excludes intragroup reinsurance.
- Ratio is as reported and calculated on a gross basis.
- Ratio is based on the group's operations.
- Ratio is based on Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE financial statements.
- Ratio is based on Tokio Marine & Nachido Fiscal Year 2023 reported combined ratio.
- Ratio includes monoline excess business in addition to reinsurance.