Record Number of Guy Carpenter Brokers Selected in 2009,
Accounting for More Than Half of All Industry Honorees

An unprecedented 29 members of Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC’s global broking team have been selected to Risk & Insurance magazine’s 2009 “Reinsurance Power Brokers” list, the highest number among all reinsurance intermediaries. The annual Power Brokers directory, now in its third year, honors individual reinsurance brokers for creativity in solving clients’ risk management issues, depth of practice or line-of-business expertise, and superior client service.

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Christopher Klein, Managing Director
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A late treaty retrocession renewal was characterized by reduced capacity and higher prices. Buyers grappled with uncertainty concerning their risk mitigation requirements, based on inward writings and an extremely limited market - especially for standard Ultimate Net Loss (UNL) retrocession protection. Although Hurricane Ike resulted in only a partial loss of limits by reinsurers (as with Hurricane Katrina), the retrocession market was unable to replenish balance sheets via sidecar capacity - as a result of the financial catastrophe. Consequently, the upward pricing reaction was more pronounced than in other sectors, and it was particularly difficult to find capacity for losses related to Hurricane Ike.

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Shaun Scade, Managing Director
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The non-U.S. personal accident (PA) market was not isolated from the effects of the global financial catastrophe. The January 1, 2009 renewal was framed by discussions concerning the cost of capital, liquidity, and investment returns. Reinsurers generally initiated these conversations with the hopes of using asset impairment issues to secure better pricing. Nonetheless, cedents were able to resist rate increases-for some lines, rates even dropped slightly.

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2008 Reinsurance Market Position

The Mexican market for 2008 to 2009 has remained stable, with no significant changes from the previous year, reflecting low catastrophic events (Tabasco) and a competitive and aggressive market. After Hurricane Wilma in 2006, with more than USD2 billion of losses, insurance companies modified their underwriting policies and conditions. Now, the market has more competitive rates and conditions.

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