After severe storm damage in Japan and the United States, Munich Re is looking with a little more optimism to the next renewal season. "I expect at least a stable renewal round in 2019," Board member Doris HOEPKE said in Baden-Baden. Until recently the reinsurer's expectations were leaning towards a stagnant season.

In 2017, the global insurance industry experienced the costliest natural disaster year in the last decade, but despite the high impact on reinsurer balance sheets, the oversupply of capital in the market has prevented an increase in reinsurance rates, although the market was already performing at its lowest point in recent years. "If only supply and demand are concerned, it will not drive prices up," HOEPKE said. Yet she hopes that the market will not go further down.

Although it is still too early to estimate the recent damage caused by the hurricanes 'Florence' and 'Michael,' as dpa-AFX has summarized, the world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, has already reported natural catastrophe losses of USD 1.1 billion (EUR 955 million) for the third quarter on preliminary estimates. Of that, half a billion dollars were spent on typhoon Jebi in Japan, and another 120 million went to reparations for Florence. The AIR Worldwide risk analysis service estimates that the insurance industry will face USD 6 billion to USD 10 billion in windstorm and wind damage from Hurricane Michael alone. The insured losses caused by hurricane Florence have been estimated by the experts to be between USD 1.7 and USD 4.6 billion.