Swiss Re has strengthened its Property & Casualty Reinsurance (P&C Re) reserves in Q3, following an in-depth review. The company allocated $2.4 bn to prior-year US liability reserves for P&C Re in Q3 2024, bringing total reserve additions to $3.1 bn for the first nine months of the year.
This move aligns with Swiss Re’s goal to accelerate positioning reserves at the higher end of its best-estimate range. Offsetting releases in other lines of business resulted in a net prior-year reserve increase of $2 bn in Q3.
After these steps, the Group estimates that reserves across P&C insurance businesses are now at the higher end of the best-estimate range. An uncertainty allowance on new business will also help maintain this strength.
Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Andreas Berger said: “Enhancing the overall resilience of the Group has been a key priority for the management team. With the decisive actions in the third quarter, which follow a comprehensive review, we have reached our goal of positioning overall property and casualty reserves at the higher end of the best estimate range”.
All our Business Units continue to deliver attractive underlying performance thanks to disciplined underwriting and capital allocation. This is further supported by a significant positive contribution from investment income.
Swiss Re’s Group Chief Financial Officer John Dacey
Enhancing the overall resilience of the Group has been a key priority. Swiss Re anticipates a Group net income of about $0.1 bn for Q3 and approximately $2.2 bn for the first nine months of 2024.
Aside from US liability insurance reserve actions, the quarter showed strong underlying underwriting and investment performance across all Business Units.
We reviewed our P&C reserves thoroughly, considering current industry data and legal trends. With our decisive actions, we have achieved our goal of positioning reserves at the higher end of the range and addressed developments in the entire US liability portfolio, covering all prior underwriting years
Andreas Berger, Swiss Re’s Group CEO
Life & Health Reinsurance (L&H Re) and Corporate Solutions are on track to hit their 2024 targets, projecting a $1.5 bn net income and a combined ratio below 93%, respectively. Due to reserve adjustments, P&C Re will miss its target of a combined ratio below 87% for 2024. Assuming average loss activity, Swiss Re expects a Group net income of over $3 bn for 2024.
