As property insurance and reinsurance markets soften, Evan Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of global insurer Chubb, emphasised that the firm is not going to chase property catastrophe reinsurance business unless it is priced adequately.
Chubb’s results, while extremely strong, revealed a 13.5% year-on-year decline in net premiums written (NPW) within its Global Reinsurance business to $304 million in Q3’25, compared with $352 million in the prior year.
In terms of profitability, the reinsurance arm performed well in the quarter, posting a combined ratio of 77.4%, down on Q3’24’s 94.4%, as catastrophe losses, net of reinsurance, fell significantly year-on-year for Chubb, reflecting a benign three months for cat activity.
During the earnings call Q&A with analysts, Chubb’s CEO was quizzed on the dip in premiums in Global Reinsurance, and whether he is seeing any loosening of conditions in the marketplace, and also what he thinks the upcoming January 1st, 2026, reinsurance renewals might look like.
“I like it as a buyer,” said Greenberg on the 1.1 renewals.
Commenting on Chubb’s reinsurance segment, he continued: “Look, our reinsurance business, and you know this, we’ve always run it a bit as, and we get the joke, we recognise it more as a trade. And, frankly, it’s the other side of that same coin of property softening. And we’re not going to chase property cat, unless we think it’s priced adequately, and we’re disciplined about priced model. There is no sort of gut feel, or I observe one or two quarters where cat activity was light, so something has changed. Oh my God, please. We’re disciplined about it. And we will write the business when we’re going to get paid adequately, we will shrink when we’re not. And there’s a pretty good example.”
After a very active and costly first half of the year in terms of cat losses, driven by the Los Angeles wildfires in January and severe convective storms in the US through much of the year, the third quarter was one of the least active quarters in some time for the industry. While activity has so far been muted in Q4, there’s still some way to go until the end of the year, so there’s potential for events to occur and influence property cat pricing ahead of 1.1, although this would likely need to be significant given the record levels of capital in the industry.
Should Q4 turn out to be average or benign, then the expectation is for further property cat rate softening at the 1.1 renewals and in 2026, albeit from a high base, which has seen numerous reinsurance industry executives and leaders underline that it is still an attractive market with adequate rate. Only time will tell how long this remains the case for global reinsurers, while for players like Chubb, where the reinsurance segment plays less of a role, it appears some business is already deemed as inadequately priced, leading to the aforementioned reduction in premiums year-on-year.
During his opening remarks, Greenberg also commented on the global commercial P&C underwriting environment, which he characterised as in transition.
“Competition continues to grow, especially large account related short-tail business, both admitted and E&S. A lot more capital is chasing the property business, and prices are softening, while terms and conditions remain steady.
“On the other hand, middle market and small commercial property is more disciplined and orderly, though greater competition is beginning to show as expected, particularly in upper middle market. In mid-market property, rates continue to rise, but naturally at a slower pace. Casualty pricing overall, large account, E&S, and middle market is also slowing, though it continues to firm in the areas that require rate. It’s quite rational,” he said.
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