Swiss Re & Berkshire Hathaway move to the top of AM Best’s global reinsurer rankings

Reinsurance giant Swiss Re has taken over from Munich Re at the top of AM Best’s ranking of the world’s largest reinsurers for companies that report under IFRS 17, with Berkshire Hathaway taking the top spot for non‑IFRS 17 reporters, based on year‑end 2024 figures. It’s important to remember that AM Best now ranks the top 50 global reinsurers in two lists. Companies that report under IFRS 17 are ranked 1‑16 based on gross reinsurance revenue, while companies that report under non‑IFRS 17 are ranked 1‑34 based on gross written reinsurance premium (GWP). The rating agency highlighted how reinsurers’ performance continued to be strong throughout 2024, after the market saw significant hardening in January 2023 in the wake of Hurricane Ian in September 2022, as well as a sustained period of rate inadequacy, and reinsurers’ inability to meet their cost of capital. “The market continues to experience tailwinds, with terms and conditions holding strong through the renewal periods and rates remaining adequate overall on a net basis, accompanied by largely modest declines for some lines and even some rate strengthening for loss‑affected lines,” AM Best said. The agency also added that the market for reinsurers remained favourable in 2024, despite natural catastrophe losses for the year being severe once again, as losses in 2024 exceeded $320 billion worldwide, with over $140 billion in insured losses. AM Best noted that the most significant change among IFRS 17 reporters this year is Swiss Re’s adoption of the accounting standard, after previously reporting under GAAP. In 2023, Swiss Re was number one for non‑IFRS 17 reporters, but the firm has now shifted its reporting and based on year‑end 2024 revenue, Swiss Re now tops the list for IFRS 17 companies with revenue of $36.2 billion. Swiss Re takes the number one spot from Munich Re, the only other organisation to have revenue of more than $30 billion in 2024 at $32.6 billion. While Munich Re dropped down one place on the list, in terms of loss performance, the large reinsurer led with a non‑life reinsurance combined ratio of 77.3%, compared to 85.2% from the previous year. Sitting in third place for IFRS 17 reporters is Hannover Re with 2024 revenue of $27.5 billion, followed by French reinsurer SCOR with revenue of $16.8 billion, while China Re closes out the top five with revenue of $5.9 billion. Due to Swiss Re’s shift to IFRS 17 reporting, Berkshire Hathaway is the new global leader for non‑IFRS 17 reporters, with 2024 GWP of $26.9 billion, the most significant change among the top five. The Lloyd’s insurance and reinsurance marketplace came second on the list for non‑IFRS 17 reporters with GWP of $23.5 billion. While in third place for non‑IFRS 17 reporters is Reinsurance Group of America with GWP of $15.6 billion, followed by Everest Group with GWP of $12.9 billion, and then RenaissanceRe with 2024 GWP of $11.7 billion. AM Best noted that global reinsurers’ results for 2025 will depend upon activity that’s seen across the market during the Atlantic hurricane season. Chris Pennings, financial analyst, AM Best, commented: “The California wildfires in January heavily impacted results for the first quarter, with many reinsurers who had California exposure reporting their worst quarterly underwriting experience in recent years and the impact of the wildfires eroding substantial portions of budgeted catastrophe loads for the year.” Pennings added: “As 2025 plays out, the market has witnessed pockets of rate softening among non‑loss affected accounts, though rates modestly improved or maintained on loss affected accounts.” One point of note, is the number of reinsurers in the list that either share risk with third‑party capital investors, or manage third‑party capital to both share risk and earn fee income. Unfortunately there is insufficient transparency in the reporting data, even looking at filings and the like, to really understand how much of a level insurance‑linked securities (ILS) and related third‑party capital strategies provide to these companies. However, for some of those reinsurers that have climbed the table in recent years, their GPW has undoubtedly increased with the help of third‑party capital. See the top 10 reinsurance groups below and you can analyse the full list over at our sister site Reinsurance News:

Swiss Re & Berkshire Hathaway move to the top of AM Best’s global reinsurer rankings

Swiss Re has overtaken Munich Re to lead the AM Best list of IFRS 17‑reporting reinsurers, while Berkshire Hathaway tops the non‑IFRS 17 list based on gross written premium. AM Best’s 2024 rankings highlight strong performance amid severe global catastrophe losses, and analysts note the impact of the California wildfires and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season on 2025 results.