Continued pricing gains for commercial lines business remained the key driver of premium growth in the second quarter, according to the report. Apart from Swiss Re, which was down 4%, the companies tracked by Gallagher Re showed year-over-year increases in premium. Second-quarter increases tended to be higher than those in Q1, the report found. During Q2, nine out of the 25 companies tracked by Gallagher Re reported a premium increase of greater than 20%, as opposed to only five in Q1.
Some management teams said they expected commercial premium increases to continue to outpace loss trends into next year. While this trend has continued for some time, the report noted that the average attritional loss ratio this quarter rose by one percentage point from the prior year.
First-half underwriting results were exceptionally strong,…
