Reinsurance rates continued to soften during the April 1 renewal period, according to major reinsurance brokers, despite an unstable geopolitical landscape and an uncertain economic outlook.
“The orderly completion of the update, with no structural disruption, capacity tightly controlled and pricing outcomes favorable to carve-outs, is testament to the underlying health of the market, even in a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty,” Howden said.
Brokers Aon, Gallagher Re, Guy Carpenter and Howden said in their respective renewal reports that continued competitive market conditions were mainly due to lower natural catastrophe losses in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, strong reinsurer balance sheets and sufficient capacity.
April 1 is the main renewal period for Japanese, Korean and Indian insurance companies, and some U.S. reinsurance companies have also renewed their policies.
“Risk-adjusted real estate catastrophe rates have returned to levels seen in the early 2020s, despite geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East placing significant pressure on multiple specialty product lines globally,” Howden Re said in a report on April renewals.Howden Re: April 1 renewal reflects continued economic weakness, unaffected by Middle East volatility“.
Howden added: “The orderly completion of the update, with no structural disruption, capacity being tightly controlled and pricing outcomes favorable to carve-outs, is testament to the fundamental health of the market, even in a period of heightened geopolitical uncertainty.”
“Insurers renewing on April 1 achieved significant savings across all regions based on competitive conditions on January 1,” Aon said in its April renewal report.Dynamic cycle management of the reinsurance market becomes the focus, updated in April 2026“.
Aon continued: “Record industry capital levels, strong competition from the ILS market and relatively modest catastrophe losses in Asia Pacific drove double-digit cutbacks and more flexible terms and conditions on April 1, with major renewals from Japanese, Korean and Indian insurers.”
Aon said global demand for reinsurance rose about 10% at renewals in April “as buyers took advantage of favorable market conditions to obtain more comprehensive protection, with some expected to return to the market post-renewal for additional purchases.”
“In some Asia-Pacific markets, interest rate cuts have been as high as 20%, highlighting the strength of buyer leverage supported by ample production capacity,” Aon said in a report. Press release accompanying the report.
Gallagher Re’s First View reported that “overall renewal results were a continuation of the January 1 theme, with cedants achieving significant risk-adjusted rate reductions in property and specialty lines, while casualty pricing remained broadly stable.”Rethinking the art of possibility, April 2026“.
iran war
Reports from several brokers confirmed that the Iran war did not affect the outcome of the April renewal period, although the potential losses may be high.
“Following the coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iranian military targets in late February 2026 and Iran’s subsequent announcement of a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz did not directly impact the April 1 property disaster update,” Howden-Ray said.
Guy Carpenter, in his book titled “Reinsurance macro trends and markets continue to weaken in Asia and India amid conflict in the Middle East“.
“Given the scale of the conflict, potential losses from political violence, shipping and air routes could be significant,” Carpenter added. However, he noted that no bias against reinsurance buyers was detected compared to January renewals.
“The current disruption is concentrated in specialist markets: maritime war risk, energy and political violence, with capacity repricing to multiples of pre-conflict levels,” Howden said.
“This update is completed in a largely benign real estate disaster environment, independent of direct disruptions in the Gulf region,” David Flandro, head of industry analysis and strategic consulting at Howden Re, said in a statement. “That said, ongoing energy supply shocks increase the risk of inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, dynamics that have historically impacted reinsurance capital and pricing across all sectors, not just those directly affected by the conflict.”
“Conflict in the Middle East has heightened global uncertainty, but the reinsurance industry has responded quickly, maintaining capacity despite rising premiums,” Gallagher Re said. Introduction to its report. “Supply chain disruptions and other economic issues are still developing, which may lead to increased demand for customized re/insurance solutions.”
Gallagher Re said it was too early to determine final insured losses from the conflict, but “the market remains open and responsive to insured demand.”
Gallagher said insurers and reinsurers have been able to quickly provide “solutions that support global trade…”. “Although premium levels have increased to reflect the fundamental change in the risk environment, availability has not been restricted.”
Drivers of market weakness
Despite competitive global pricing, Asia Pacific’s strong reinsurer balance sheets and relatively low natural catastrophe losses last year are driving market stability.
Aon said: “Global reinsurer capital hit a new high of $785 billion at the end of 2025, up nearly 10% year-on-year, driven by strong retained earnings, investment income and record third-party capital of $136 billion.”
“The 18% increase in third-party capital helped reduce retrocession costs and enabled many traditional reinsurers to expand sidecar and catastrophe bond programs,” Aon added.
Aon explained that most reinsurers reported strong underwriting results for the third consecutive year in 2025 and continue to benefit from the market reset in 2023.
“Aon estimates that global reinsurers’ reported equity rose to a new high of $649 billion as of December 31, 2025, up $49 billion from the end of 2024, primarily due to strong retained earnings. The average return on equity among the 29 insurers and reinsurers tracked by Aon was 17%, about twice the average cost of equity.”
When discussing lower insured losses from natural catastrophes, Aon noted that natural catastrophe claims in Asia Pacific in 2025 will be 54% lower than the 21st century average. (Swiss Re estimates global insured losses at $107 billion in 2025, 24% lower than the $141 billion in 2024.)
Aon said peak risk losses in 2025 of $9 billion were unusually low as no hurricanes made landfall in the United States for the first time in a decade.
Additionally, Aon said the record $118 billion in secondary risk losses were mostly retained by the primary market, noting that as a result, the reinsurance industry’s average combined ratio would be 88.5% in 2025, down from 90.1% in 2024.
Guy Carpenter said 2026 will start on a similar basis, with catastrophe insured losses expected to be about $13 billion in the first quarter of 2026, more than 50% below the five-year inflation-adjusted average. “Reinsurers’ share of global catastrophe losses continues to decline due to higher attachment points and fewer catastrophe events.”
April update territory
Prices are competitive in all major renewal regions in April.
Guy Carpenter said India’s renewals benefited from benign loss experience and strong local production capacity, leading to one of the most competitive renewal seasons in recent years, adding that price cuts for no-loss excess loss business were more than 20%.
“Pricing remains competitive in the responsibility and specialty areas, including cyber,” Carpenter added.
“In the India and Middle East markets, we see reinsurers’ strong commitment to maintaining coverage despite the complexities caused by ongoing conflicts,” Atish Suri, CEO India, Middle East and Africa at Guy Carpenter, commented in the release.
Japanese market
Carpenter pointed out that Japan was the largest region in the Asia-Pacific region to renew insurance in April, and prices of accident and specialty insurance products continued to weaken as production capacity exceeded demand. “Real estate disaster and double-digit declines in real estate prices by risk line.”
Asia Pacific Territories
Guy Carpenter said the non-damage catastrophe business has seen double-digit price drops as economic weakness continues in key Asia-Pacific regions such as Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines and Singapore.
“Terms and conditions remain broadly stable and renewals are on schedule. Sufficient capacity and new reinsurers looking to diversify their portfolios have led to increased quote activity, demonstrating the added value of ceding companies.”
US market
“In the U.S., competition between traditional and insurance-related securities markets responded to increased buyer demand and resulted in double-digit pricing declines,” Aon said in the release. “U.S. insurers also took advantage of favorable buy-side conditions to transfer more risk to reinsurers through increased limits, frequency coverage and proportional trading.”
Aon said in the report that terms and conditions in the United States continue to improve following a difficult market in 2023. “Despite increasing interest from insurers in frequency products, including third and fourth event coverage and multiple event purchase retention, retention levels have remained broadly flat.”
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