Paris-based global reinsurer SCOR is eager to expand its North American (NA) natural catastrophe (nat cat) portfolio as long as pricing remains adequate, CEO Thierry Léger said on a media call earlier this week.
SCOR delivered strong performance in the fourth quarter and full year 2025, with net profits of €208 million and $851 million, respectively, and strong underlying property and casualty (P&C) results.
SCOR’s group gross written premium (GWP) fell 6.8% year-on-year in 2025, with both its property and casualty and life and health (L&H) reinsurance divisions contracting.
Regarding the 1.1 2026 renewal, the reinsurer said it is able to achieve broadly stable terms and conditions, including add-on points, as it targets selective growth.
Given the current soft housing market conditions, CEO Léger was asked about SCOR’s interest in North American catastrophe risks ahead of mid-year reinsurance renewals, and the executive emphasized SCOR’s “pretty clear underweight stance,” which is why North America has been a growth area for the company in the past, including through 2026-1.1.
“While prices have been going down, demand has been going up. It’s always healthy in a more competitive environment, but demand is still going up. So that’s actually helping price adequacy and price quality. So we still think natural cats in North America are reasonably priced and if that persists, we’ll be cautious about trying to expand,” Léger said.
The CEO went on to emphasize that when SCOR seeks to expand in any market, it engages in long-term discussions with target customers to determine how to achieve growth.
“So what we’re not doing is just putting more capacity into the market and having more competitive capacity come into the market. We’re really trying to have very focused discussions with some of our core customers. And if rate adequacy remains more or less where it is now, we’ll have an appetite for more,” he said.
Léger continued: “I just want to make sure that everyone understands that we are fully prepared for a market that may become more competitive and that we are very clear about where our floor rates are and when prices in any industry fall below the floor rate, we will start to take action.
“I’ve been in this industry long enough to understand that in soft cycles, firstly, you have to avoid mistakes, and secondly, you have to think about those threshold rates and take action if needed. But, personally, I expect North American cats to have higher than fixed rates on some businesses, and I still believe we will have opportunities to expand.”
While questions focused on the North American catastrophe space, Léger also offered his perspective on the U.S. casualty market, which he described as the largest risk pool for reinsurers/insurers globally and one that SCOR takes a very cautious approach to.
“We’ve now seen 22, 23 years of market data that actually show that the conservative approach taken by SCOR has proven to be correct,” Léger said. “I was very clear three years ago, four years ago that I didn’t have a crystal ball, but I wasn’t sure we were in a tough market like a lot of people said. So, I’m still more cautious.”
He continued, “I think the price increases that we’re seeing are only partially and sometimes just compensating for the loss trends. Certainly, more so on the direct side. On the reinsurance side, I find it’s still not an attractive market overall, given the commission levels.
“Now that new retro capacity is being built in the space, replacement retro capacity, they will not contribute to the evolution of prices. If anything, they will actually prevent prices from rising further. So the use of these vehicles will only delay the necessary reaction in the market, but one day, when people get tired of pouring money into this space, that will happen.”
SCOR to ‘cautiously try to expand’ NA nat cat portfolio if prices remain adequate: CEO Léger appeared first on ReinsuranceNe.ws.
