S&P Global Ratings has recently unveiled its mid-year insurance outlook for both the Australian and wider Asia-Pacific insurance markets.
While the outlook is generally positive, there are ongoing challenges that the industry must navigate.
In Australia, the property and casualty (P&C) sector’s combined ratio is anticipated to revert to the “low 90s” after experiencing significant premium rate increases over the past few years.
S&P Global Ratings This positive outlook is tempered by several challenges, including claims inflation, escalating reinsurance expenses, and extreme weather events.
Claims inflation remains a significant concern, particularly in markets like Australia and New Zealand.
Wenwen Chen, Director and Lead Analyst for Insurance Ratings at S&P, highlighted this issue during a recent webinar.
As the industry contends with claims inflation, it could impact insurers’ underwriting results.
Additionally, S&P Global Ratings the slowing of economic growth could undermine business and consumer confidence, which has already been observed in some markets. This, in turn, might impact premium growth.
Craig Bennett, Director and Lead Analyst for S&P in Melbourne, expressed optimism about the industry’s underwriting performance despite these challenges.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) recent update indicated that the industry achieved a $5.3 billion S&P Global Ratings underwriting profit in the year to March, marking a 12.4% increase from the previous year. Gross earned premium also saw growth of 9.4% to reach $64.4 billion.
Bennett emphasized the impact of rising costs, including reinsurance expenses, on premium rates.
Insurers have responded by raising headline premiums by approximately 6% to 12%.
While this dynamic is expected to continue, there is an anticipation that the rate of premium increase will moderate in the future.
Looking at the broader Asia-Pacific property and casualty sector, S&P cautioned about the changing risk appetite of global reinsurers.
Such shifts could potentially reduce aggregate reinsurance capacity, leading to an impact on insurers’ profit margins.
Overall, while the industry faces persistent challenges, there is a sense of cautious optimism based on S&P Global Ratings recent performance and strategic responses to market dynamics.
Source : insurancenews.com.au
