The reinsurance market is expanding due to the entry of medium-sized companies into this segment

The number of participants in the reinsurance of individual risks began to grow at the expense of medium-sized companies. This makes it possible to increase the capacity of the segment against the backdrop of a reduction in the participation of the state-owned RNPK; in addition, small companies are expanding business opportunities. However, participation in the reinsurance business requires a significant increase in the authorized capital.

Against the background of the growing share of large insurance companies in reinsurance (see Kommersant on March 18), medium-sized market participants began to more actively enter this segment. According to a representative of a large insurance broker, we are talking about companies that are in the third ten in terms of fees. This trend concerns risks related to property insurance of legal entities, agricultural risks, large corporate financial risks, in particular insurance against business interruption, risks related to liability insurance of top managers (D&O), says Katerina Yakunina, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Professional Insurance Brokers. According to her estimates, small and medium-sized insurers can offer reinsurance coverage of tens of millions of rubles. According to the Central Bank, the volume of incoming reinsurance in 2023 amounted to 164.8 billion rubles.

Insurance companies confirm that they are interested in reinsurance. “We consider risks in incoming reinsurance both for our own retention and under the protection of the obligatory programs operating in the company,” says Alexey Shelyubsky, head of the reinsurance department at MAX. According to him, the company is interested in both property and liability insurance. Astro-Volga began to participate in the reinsurance of D&O risks.

According to experts, the trend is associated with the request of insurance companies for alternative reinsurance capacity. The current situation has persisted for several years; the market is gradually moving towards diversification of reinsurance primarily through internal reserves. “This is an increase in the supply of reinsurance capacity on the part of market leaders, and a more active participation, at least in small volumes, of other market participants in reinsurance,” explains Alexey Yanin, managing director for ratings of insurance and investment companies at Expert RA. According to him, this allows both to diversify reinsurance protection and to earn money by providing risk reinsurance services to an increasing number of market participants.

At the same time, according to B1 partner Tatyana Samsonova, at the moment capital sufficient to protect large risks can only be offered by large players, the main of which is RNPC. However, smaller players can also provide capital for reinsurance of smaller risks. It is extremely difficult to compete with large players at the expense of their own retention – colleagues are looking for new growth points and are entering into specific types in which reinsurance capacity is formed through their own retention and any participation of new players is in demand, even if they offer small amounts, clarifies the Deputy General Director of the Group of Companies ” Sealine” Vladimir Novak.

Indeed, participation in a reinsurance pool requires additional costs for companies. In particular, according to Katerina Yakunina, a license for incoming reinsurance requires a larger authorized capital from the insurer. Accordingly, without this license, the company’s capital must be at least 300 million rubles, and with a license – at least 600 million rubles. Speaking of D&O, the main risk is that due to the rather broad formulation of the covered risks, policyholders file claims for non-insurance events, and they have to create reserves that can “hang” for a very long time while waiting for the end of legal proceedings, adds Deputy General Director of Absolut Insurance Mikhail Alekseev.

Yulia Poslavskaya