CEO Jacques Aigrain told Swiss daily NZZ that rates in the reinsurance market are picking up again — “We are seeing that the conditions and margins in the actual reinsurance business are improving.” However, “lower returns on investment should be expected” he went on to say, though perhaps that didn’t really need spelling out.
Swiss Re recently posted a Q3 loss as it wrote down almost USD500m on investments for the quarter and reported a USD250m or so unrealised mark-to-market loss on credit default swaps.
There is some speculation that Swiss Re was more actively involved in some innovative products than competitors and it seems to have been hurt more than its competitors by the financial crisis. The very fact that
Aigrain said that CDS and financial guarantee business was not being continued tends to reinforce that view.
One wonders what further news may come out of the giant.
Source: Reuters.
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