According to global reinsurance broker Howden Re, buyers of cyber reinsurance benefited from favorable supply dynamics and renewals on January 1, 2026, supported by strong competition and a manageable loss environment.
Despite several high-profile attacks on individual insureds and some systemic incidents, the financial impact was not enough to change pricing sentiment.
Luke Foord-Kelcey, global head of cyber at Howden Re, said: “As the cyber market moves into 2026, ample capacity and strong reinsurer interest continue to be advantages for cedants, reflected in favorable terms and greater structural flexibility at renewal. Cedents that can demonstrate thoughtful growth plans and disciplined underwriting, as well as the ability to stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape, are best received.”
Howden Re pointed out that most of the nine new reinsurers entering the market on January 1, 2025, brought US$250 million in new capacity, but did not meet their deployment targets and were reloaded in 2026, further adding rich capacity and competitive terms.
Declining margins in quota share were offset by strong profitability in excess of loss business and continued reinsurer interest, which was attracted by the long-term growth opportunities in cyber reinsurance. These factors further tilt supply and demand dynamics in favor of the ceding company.
“Concession commissions for quota share business are up 1% to 1.5% for most buyers. Following a 3% to 4% increase since 2022-23, most commission percentages are now in the mid-30s range and are likely to stabilize unless the loss environment worsens. A loss-free year in the excess loss market has driven stop-loss pricing down 15% to 20% globally, with the declines being greater internationally than in the U.S., reflecting underlying loss performance and growth potential,” said Howden Re.
Buyers are also showing increasing interest in portfolio-level optimization, exploring how to monetize the profitable portion of the books while still achieving capital relief. This drives the execution of new structures, including event aggregation, variable quota shares and per-risk excess loss solutions.