The Market Analysis team, which has evolved from Aon Benfield Research, provides in-depth reports on reinsurers and insight into reinsurance market trends. Aon Benfield Research will now focus entirely on the firm’s academic and industry research collaboration.
Over the past year, as part of ongoing investment in Analytics, Aon Benfield has more than doubled the size of the team specializing in the analysis of the reinsurance markets. The decision to form a dedicated Market Analysis team reflects the team’s capabilities in response to the increased emphasis on credit risk, due to the financial market crisis and recent proposed or enacted regulatory standards.
Mike Van Slooten, Head of the International Market Analysis team, said: “We want our clients to recognize that we have a dedicated team that scrutinizes their reinsurance counterparties and will keep them informed of emerging trends in the industry. There is a huge amount of information in the reinsurance market. Our clients need a trusted source to quickly tell them what is important and how it will impact them.”
The Market Analysis team publishes reports on reinsurance markets at both individual and group level through MarketReViewTM, Aon Benfield’s proprietary internet portal. The information available through MarketReView combined with the additional client service capabilities of the Market Analysis team help (re)insurers to make more informed business decisions.
Mike McClane, Head of the U.S. and Bermuda Market Analysis team, added: “The analysis of reinsurers is a lot more challenging than a few years ago. The balance sheets of reinsurers are becoming increasingly complex to analyze due to sophisticated investments, securitizations, hedging strategies and a more complex capital structure, including contingent capital and hybrid equity. In addition, it is important to understand the intercompany obligations among a reinsurance group and how freely capital can move between affiliates. We now have a larger client servicing team conducting the credit analysis and forwarding the information quickly to our clients.”