Swiss Re expects prices to stabilise due to recent loss events

[ZURICH] Swiss Re sees prices stabilising after catastrophes including Hurricane Harvey in the Caribbean and flooding in Asia, the global reinsurer said on Monday on the sidelines of an industry conference in Monte Carlo.

The industry acts as a financial backstop for insurance companies, helping them cover the cost of claims from natural and man-made disasters.

But it has been squeezed by falling prices for years.

The Zurich-based company said expensive disasters continue to underscore an existing "protection gap", the difference between the amount of insurance coverage that is economically beneficial and coverage that is purchased.

"As we have seen again in the aftermath of recent floods in the US following Hurricane Harvey, as well as devastating flooding in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, the protection gap is very real," Swiss Re chief executive officer Christian Mumenthaler said in a statement.

REUTERS