As the reinsurance industry approaches the mid-2026 renewal season, Adrian Daws, chief executive of Hamilton Re, the underwriting platform of Bermuda-based global specialty insurer and reinsurer Hamilton, remains optimistic about its growth opportunities, even as the market undergoes a transformation.
Speaking to Reinsurance News during our visit to Bermuda, Dawes highlighted that Hamilton Re’s diversified portfolio across specialty, casualty, property and casualty and reinsurance provides flexibility and resiliency as the trading environment evolves.
“There are still opportunities for growth,” Dawes said. “Having a diversified portfolio gives us more flexibility into what we consider to be more challenging trading environments.”
The executive expects the soft cycle in the professional space to continue through mid-2026 renewals, although the pace will vary across subcategories.
“We are seeing that not all markets are moving at the same pace. In specialty areas, the market is assuming that the soft cycle will continue into mid-year renewals. As markets are moving at different rates, we are seeing the marine and energy sectors potentially feeling more pressure,” he said.
Adding: “The War & Terror and Political Violence categories are clearly suffering from some activity at the moment, but the softening is somewhat muted. Adjustments in pricing are largely limited to those specific areas affected by current conflicts. This is not necessarily what we see throughout the book.
“Broadly speaking, for the professional sector, we expect this soft trajectory to continue.”
Dawes noted that the casualty sector is a little different in that it has shown more resiliency. He described the outlook as good and stressed that the general weakness seen elsewhere has not yet materialized here.
However, he urged caution on social and economic inflation, which remains the main driver of casualty risk management.
Dawes said that in the case of the real estate sector, the market still believes that weakness will continue into the middle of the year.
“There is overcapacity in the market, mainly due to the strong first quarter results that were recently announced, but the underlying business is still very strong. The coverage and attachment points offered by reinsurers are still quite good. So, despite the decline in interest rates, things are good,” he explained.
Despite the clear signs of softening, Dawes believes discipline continues, albeit slightly differently across industries.
He commented: “On the majors side, we’ve seen attachment points generally remain at 1.1 and 1.4. But cedants are requiring some buying and in some cases there’s some evidence that on no-loss portfolios those retention rates may be slightly reduced.
“Ocean Energy has been most evident in softening the signal, with risks slightly widening. With regard to political violence, my comments are as above. So, discipline is in effect. And, one generally manages risk through sub-limits, totals, event provisions, etc.”
“In the casualty area, there is limited scope for increasing ceding commissions, but only in relatively few cases and where loss experience would support that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t say there are any particularly significant changes. On the property side, the attachment point remains largely unchanged. The discussion there is really around pricing,” Daws concluded.
