More than half of largest 30 European non-life insurers have solvency ratios above 200%

Written by Adam Cadle

05/11/2019

More than half of the largest 30 European non-life insurers for 2018 and 2017 have solvency ratios above 200%, according to AM Best.

Its new report, European Insurers: Concentration, Competition and Markets Remain Key, stated only a handful have ratios below 120%.

"The highest ratios trend to be held by mutual groups which do not have to consider return on equity for shareholders, and by those underwriting reinsurance and large corporate risks, where strong solvency is a competitive advantage," AM Best senior director, analytics & head of operations - analytics Angela Yeo said.

Gross premiums written of the five largest insurers in this ranking has been largely stable at just under 50%.

"When we look at the largest 10, we note that the proportion of premiums accounted for by them is also unchanged at 70%," director, analytics, Mathilde Jakobsen underlined.

"Despite this concentration, most European insurance segments are experiencing a relatively strong level of competition. Furthermore, each market has its own idiosyncrasies, with product and distribution channel mix dictated by the history and culture of each particular country, with some of the groups underwriting the majority of their insurance portfolios in their country of domicile."

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