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Reinsurance buyers set to see lower prices, more options at renewals - Business Insurance Skip to content Register for free Search Search Log In Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Risk Management Cyber Risks Pricing Trends Mergers & Acquisitions Technology Sponsored Content WSIA RISKWORLD Workers Comp & Safety Workers Comp Cost Control Pain Management Workplace Safety International EMEA Asia-Pacific Latin America People Events BI Intelligence Top 100 Agents & Brokers Best Places to Work 2026 Lists Directories Insurance Pricing BI Stock Index Magazine Current Issue Past Issues Subscribe Women to Watch ALL INsurance Resources Risk Perspectives Sponsored Content Webinars White Papers Reinsurance buyers set to see lower prices, more options at renewals by Gavin Souter P/C Pricing , Reinsurance Howden , Marsh , Munich Re , SCOR Sep 15, 2026 MONTE CARLO, Monaco — Reinsurance buyers should expect lower prices during year-end property reinsurance renewals, as abundant capacity intensifies competition and puts further pressure on rates, industry executives say. While reinsurers say current prices remain adequate and that they will walk away from underpriced business, cedents should still have more options on Jan. 1, which could allow them to modify their programs to broaden coverage or simply spend less on reinsurance. Property catastrophe pricing could fall another 10% to 15% on a risk-adjusted basis on Jan. 1 if major catastrophe losses remain limited, said Brian Schneider, Chicago-based global head of reinsurance ratings at Fitch Ratings. He spoke during a presentation at the Rendez-Vous de Septembre last week, where thousands of reinsurance industry participants travel to the French Riviera each year to begin renewal discussions. With no major peak-peril catastrophes reported so far this year and strong results from reinsurers, most market participants said rates will fall again on Jan. 1. Reinsurers can withstand further reductions because they entered the softening market with strong profit margins, but continued decreases will eventually put pressure on returns, Mr. Schneider said. The 18 reinsurers tracked by Fitch reported an 86.1% combined ratio for the first half of 2026, compared with 92.7% a year earlier. Reinsurers have posted strong returns over the past several years, so, even after prior rate reductions, cedents will be looking for lower rates or broader protection, said David Duffy, New York-based global property leader at Marsh Re. There has not been a significant influx of new reinsurance capacity, but existing reinsurers have generated additional capital through strong retained earnings, and third-party capital has continued to grow, he said. Marsh Re estimates reinsurance capital at $705 billion this year, up from $663 billion in 2025. “The question for reinsurers now becomes: Do they put the retained earnings back to work in the market? Do they reinvest in writing more risk, or do they dividend back to their shareholders?” Mr. Duffy said. Buyers could use premium savings to purchase protection against catastrophe losses below the higher attachment points established during the hard market, he said. Coverage for aggregate losses remains limited, but cedents are seeing their options expand, including through parametric structures, executives said . Reinsurance remains good value for insurers even after the sharp price increases prior to 2024, said David Flandro, London-based head of industry analysis and strategic advisory at Howden Re. As prices fall and capacity increases, cedents have more flexibility to decide whether to buy additional protection, restructure programs or retain more risk, he said. “Reinsurance is a very efficient form of capital,” Mr. Flandro said, noting that insurers have to weigh the cost of reinsurance against other sources of capital and their own ability to retain risk. Cycle management Reinsurers need to maintain relationships with insurers throughout the cycle without committing too much capital to business that no longer meets their return targets, said Robert Wiest, Zurich-based CEO of MS Reinsurance. A reinsurer that withdraws entirely from an account during a soft market may find it difficult to regain the business when conditions improve, he said. “You can shrink your positions if you discuss it early enough with your clients, but there’s one thing no client likes, and we don’t like either: surprises,” he said. Executives at the world’s largest reinsurers said rates remain adequate and they plan to maintain underwriting discipline . Neil Eckert, CEO and co-founder of Bermuda-based Conduit Re — who is slated to head brokerage Willis Re — said strong returns have contributed to abundant capital in the property reinsurance market, but reinsurers should prioritize margin protection over growth as competition increases. Exposures expand While prices are falling, exposures are expanding, with several executives pointing to the uncertain geopolitical environment — which has already led to losses in the Middle East — the rapid expansion of data centers and the continued growth of cyber exposures and liabilities related to artificial intelligence use. Munich Re estimates the global cyber insurance market at about $15 billion in premium and expects it to reach $20.6 billion by 2028. The reinsurer estimates annual global economic cybercrime costs at $10.3 trillion. Artificial intelligence is also raising questions about how existing insurance policies will respond. Some U.S. insurers have begun excluding AI exposures from admitted policies while they try to understand potential liabilities and some insurers are offering AI-specific covers, said Jean-Paul Conoscente, CEO of property and casualty at Paris-based reinsurer Scor. “Are we able to assess them properly? Are we able to quantify them properly?” he said. Scor will want to understand how insurers are managing AI exposures before deciding how much liability protection to offer through reinsurance treaties, Mr. Conoscente said. Other technology may help insurers analyze risks that previously were difficult or uneconomical to underwrite. AI can automate much of the collection and analysis of underwriting information, allowing underwriters to assess a broader range of risks while focusing their time on decisions that require judgment, said Dani Katz, co-founder and director of Optalit, a London-based insurtech. “I don’t see it replacing actuaries or underwriters at this stage,” Mr. Katz said. AI lacks some of the market knowledge that underwriters gain through direct interaction with brokers, clients and other market participants, he said. 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