New insurers set to enter cyber market to meet buyer demand, says Insuramore
Insurance market analyst firm Insuramore expects more players to enter the cyber insurance space in 2022 to meet “over and above” demand for additional capacity.
Publishing new research, Insuramore said demand for cyber insurance may be in part driven by underdeveloped markets, such as in Asia, which could attract more local entrants. At the same time, managing general agents have started to set up their own carriers to retain some of the risk.
“Trying to precisely forecast the growth of the global cyber insurance market beyond the next year or two is problematic as the explosive growth witnessed in 2021 and the first half of 2022 is unlikely to be sustainable. Nevertheless, it seems certain to remain on a strong upward trajectory,” Insuramore said.
Its research finds that Beazley and Chubb were the biggest cyber underwriters last year, followed by Munich Re, Canada’s Fairfax Financial and AXA.
Cyber insurance recorded gross written premiums of $8.61bn in 2021, reaching almost $9bn when including captive insurers. Insuramore said the top 20 insurance groups accounted for 77% of the total cyber insurance market and, of 180 players, the top 100 underwriters accounted for 98% of total risks.
Taking a midpoint range of estimated gross premiums written for cyber risks last year, Insuramore said Beazley and Chubb tied as market leaders with $800m in cyber premiums apiece and a market share of 9.29% each.
US buyers account for half of global cyber premiums, the analyst firm added.
“The relatively new and specialised nature of cyber cover plus its geographic skew to the US make it a more concentrated sector than most other categories of insurance,” Insuramore said.
