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Mother Nature and mankind took it easy on the insurance industry in 2009. The total cost of both natural and man-made catastrophes fell profoundly in 2009, from $267 billion to $52 billion.
Insured losses fell, as well, according to Swiss Re (SWCEY). Insured natural catastrophe losses dropped to $21 billion, with the man-made variety hitting a mere $3 billion. Combined, insured losses pushed up to $50 billion in 2008, thanks in large part to the effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
With the annual reinsurance renewal for property insurers approaching -- it's only a month away -- this data provides even more fodder for the notion that the worst case is stability, with reinsurance rates likely going down to the benefit of carriers like Travelers (TRV) and Allstate (ALL). This will lead to a lower cost to transfer risk, leaving more capital available to put to work in the market.
Hurricane season was particularly light this year, and worldwide, 2009 wasn't terribly menacing. Only five events in the first half of the year led to insured losses of more than $1 billion. In 2009, only 12,000 catastrophe-related fatalities occurred, compared to 240,000 in 2008.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-30-2009 @ 12:05PM
clikdawg said...
Ix-nay, Tom -- this is like counting your chickens before they're hatched ... drinking that champagne before the last guy's out in the World Series ... bragging to the fellas that your wife hasn't a clue about that waitress you've been banging: A sure way to bring down the wrath of the gods.
Mind you, I'm not selling any predictions, and that's the whole point: With all the talk in the last several years about American hubris, you think we'd at least have learned the ground rules -- but no; we go right on flapping our yap and thus inviting retaliatory disaster.
Do yourself a favor: Read some Sophocles, podnuh, or even certain parts of the Bible; those old timers knew a thing or two about a thing or two, buddy ...
11-30-2009 @ 12:32PM
clikdawg said...
Dry "Scholarly" Addendum: There are forces which operate in this life that we neither comprehend nor control (often called 'the gods', but who really knows?), and which operate in certain easily identified and oft-repeated patterns -- which is why you never jinx a no-hitter by even mentioning a 'no-hitter' until it is actually and incontestably a no-hitter, savvy?