insurance research report
How to Research a Reinsurer
A reinsurer research framework for analysts comparing capital strength, retrocession, catastrophe exposure, casualty reserves, specialty appetite, and renewal-cycle positioning.
Company snapshot
- Reinsurers are researched through capital, portfolio mix, cycle discipline, catastrophe exposure, reserve development, retrocession, and client relationships.
- Property catastrophe, casualty, specialty, life, and structured reinsurance can behave very differently in the same group.
- Renewal commentary is useful, but it should be checked against filings, rating-agency commentary, and loss development.
Business model and main segments
Reinsurers assume risk from insurers and other reinsurers in exchange for premium. They manage volatility through diversification, underwriting selection, pricing cycles, retrocession, collateral, and capital-market alternatives.
Why researchers use this
- To understand capacity supply in insurance markets and why pricing changes at renewal.
- To compare catastrophe exposure, casualty reserve sensitivity, and capital strength.
- To separate cycle commentary from portfolio-level performance signals.
Public signals to check
- Combined ratio, catastrophe losses, reserve development, return on equity, and capital adequacy commentary.
- Renewal commentary by geography, class, attachment point, and treaty type.
- Retrocession costs, ILS activity, alternative capital, and sidecar usage.
- Rating agency outlooks, capital model commentary, and solvency disclosures.
- Casualty social inflation, cyber accumulation, climate exposure, and geopolitical risk language.
Research checklist
- Map reinsurance classes, geography, and whether the company writes treaty, facultative, life, non-life, or specialty.
- Review latest annual report, results presentation, rating commentary, and renewal commentary.
- Check catastrophe loss history, casualty reserve development, retrocession reliance, and capital position.
- Identify whether growth comes from price, exposure, new capital, acquisitions, or risk appetite expansion.
- Summarize implications for insurers, brokers, MGAs, or buyers relying on that market capacity.
Public source links
- FCA Financial Services Register
Check UK authorisation, permissions, trading names, appointed representatives, and regulatory status.
- Companies House company search
Check UK company filings, accounts, officers, ownership filings, insolvency events, and registered addresses.
- Lloyd's Market Directory
Check Lloyds brokers, coverholders, managing agents, syndicates, and classes of business.
- SEC EDGAR full-text search
Check US-listed company filings, risk factors, annual reports, quarterly reports, and transaction disclosures.
How to turn this into a company profile
Create a one-page note with four labels beside every material statement: verified source, inferred from source, market commentary, or unknown. That keeps the profile useful without overstating what public information can prove.