Global reinsurance dedicated capital totalled USD658b as of the end of 2020, with a growth rate of 7% over the restated 2019 base.1 Such a solid finish to 2020 would hardly have been expected earlier in the year, as the COVID pandemic was gathering pace.
Investment markets remained strong in the second half of the year, and that was a main driver of the improved reinsurance capital position. The much talked-about capital-raising by both incumbents and new entrants helped as well, even though capital returns to shareholders far exceeded the capital raised