Q4 Regional Insights

North America

  • A less volatile, more competitive market continues to emerge, especially for in-appetite risks and placement types, with the most notable exception of Cyber. Underwriting is focused on risk profile, industry and size segmentation.
  • Despite aggressive growth goals, insurers remain conservative on long-tail lines as runaway jury verdicts and legal fees continue to accelerate at a pace faster than inflation.
  • The 2021 capital commitments took more time than expected to mobilize and, while some new capacity has entered the market, more is expected to become available in early 2022.
  • Portfolio-wide coverage, limit and deductible adjustments have been applied; risk-specific adjustments are now being applied as needed.

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Latin America

  • Market conditions remain firm, but with pockets of opportunities, depending on geography, client segment and product.
  • Underwriting in the corporate segment has become more conservative, with a focus on reducing volatility through best-in-class risk selection and limiting single-risk exposure.
  • The SME market is experiencing healthy competition in virtually all products and classes of business.
  • Cyber, Directors & Officers, and Energy are among the products / industries that continue to experience significant capital constraints and coverage restrictions.

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EMEA and the United Kingdom

  • Market conditions continue to moderate, especially for in-appetite risk types and lines of business, where insurers remain focused on retention and cautious growth while keeping a watchful eye on combined ratios.
  • Underwriters are demonstrating a strong underwriting preference for risks with robust, detailed underwriting information. 
  • While current pricing levels have attracted new capacity, insurers are reducing maximum limits deployed per risk, leading to more insurer participants / layers / coinsurance per placement.
  • Product and pricing innovation is accelerating, with alternative risk transfer mechanisms and parametrics becoming common renewal themes.

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Asia-Pacific

  • Following a prolonged period of insurer remediation focus for some product lines, insurer profitability has improved, leading to more favorable market conditions, albeit in pockets.
  • New market entrants and a shift in insurer focus toward growth have been key factors in stabilizing pricing, particularly for in-appetite exposures and occupancies, well-managed risks, and risks with a low natural catastrophe footprint. Other areas; however, such as Cyber, some elements of Casualty, Professional Indemnity, and complex Property remain significantly challenged.
  • The divide in market conditions between in-appetite and out-of-appetite risks is growing and expected to become even more pronounced over the coming months.
  • Insurer focus on sustainability and ESG is growing, and insurers are looking to further balance their portfolios in the mid-term to reduce non-ESG friendly risks.

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Geographic Trends

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