Bermuda braces for reserve release slowdown

Graham Village, global markets editor

Favourable reserve development has been an important factor in the reinsurance industry’s strong underwriting performance for several years but that benefit may have started to slow. A group of 18 insurers associated with the Bermudian market posted reserve releases of $695.7m for the first quarter, down slightly from $710.9m for the comparable three months of last year (table 1). Of the companies shown, only Third Point Re recorded net strengthening of reserves for the 2014 period.