Welcome to Baden-Baden Today

The world is slowly returning to some semblance of normality, and the fact that the Baden-Baden Reinsurance Meeting is going ahead in a physical form this year is a welcome early indication of that.

There will be big differences, however. COVID-19-related restrictions and safety measures are in force, while testing and proof of vaccination will be required for some events. It will be a much smaller event this year—but events will happen, and executives will meet face to face.

That is a welcome step forward. Around the meeting in Germany, as negotiations around the renewals season gather pace, many more events, debates and discussions will continue to take place in a virtual form.

The timing of the physical meeting in Baden-Baden acts as a focus for these—an important mark in the calendar.

For this year’s edition of Baden-Baden Today, we reflect this blended approach the industry is now using to conduct business.

We have done many video interviews during the week before Baden-Baden. We will also report on the press conferences and events happening around the conference and speak to individuals who are attending in person.

This allows us, as ever, to provide in-depth analysis of industry news and opinion, based on our speaking to the most senior leaders in the industry—asking the challenging questions and delivering the answers.

For the first time, this year the publication is truly multimedia. Almost all of our exclusive interviews and panel discussions are available in these pages for you to watch and listen to—in addition to reading our reporting on them.

We hope you find the content in these pages useful and informative—it may even give you an edge on the competition.

Wyn Jenkins, managing editor, Intelligent Insurer

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

Citadel draws line in sand with significant capital raise

After a challenging 2020/21, Citadel Risk has drawn a line in the sand by raising new capital—a step it believes will appease stakeholders and allow it to move into a new league when it comes to fresh underwriting opportunities.

A significant capital injection into two of Citadel Risk’s subsidiaries represents a watershed for the company after some significant challenges including downgrades by AM Best.

But it also propels the firm into a “new league” in terms of underwriting opportunities.

That is how two of the company’s senior executives explain the importance of a $35 million cash injection the company has secured. Some $10 million will be used to shore up the balance sheet of US managing general agent (MGA) American Millennium Insurance Company (AMIC), which was downgraded by AM Best in February to C- from C++ following heavy losses on historic business written in Texas between 2016 and 2018.

This cash injection will be complemented by a reinsurance stop loss agreement, which has been put in place to “cap” the AMIC losses which led to the rating downgrade.

A further $25 million has been injected into Citadel’s balance sheet which, at September 30, 2021, stands at $47.1 million.

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

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Floods and COVID uncertainty to dominate European renewal talks

TigerRisk’s Juan England thinks recent catastrophe events will form a core part of the talks.

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ILS aggregate cover to fall at renewals as losses bite

The market has been buffeted by a string of nat cats and this will have a significant impact, says ILS Capital Management’s John Warwick.

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

Nat cat models and pricing the big issue at Baden-Baden

The European flooding and rise of secondary perils have changed the conversation for European reinsurance. Johannes Martin Hartmann of VIG Re joined the debate.

For buyers and sellers of reinsurance, Baden-Baden is a vital point in the calendar—it’s usually when discussions over renewals get serious. After the recent floods in northern Europe, there’s currently more than the usual uncertainty about the outcomes of the negotiations.

VIG Re brings a unique perspective: it attends as both parties to the negotiations. The Czechia-based business is a reinsurer in its own right, and a cedant as the buyer for the wider Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), one of the largest international insurance groups in Central and Eastern Europe.