Kathmandu. The world’s reinsurance companies are better prepared than ever for a soft market, it has been revealed. A new study by JP Morgan has revealed this.
However, the price drop is expected to affect the reinsurance sector, the report said. “Disaster losses will be much lower than normal, especially in the first quarter of 2026,” the report said.
JPMorgan expects total insured losses from natural disasters to reach about $10 billion in the first quarter of 2026. “This is significantly less than the historical normal of $15 billion and significantly less than $45 billion in the first quarter of 2025,” the report said.
According to the report, the biggest events in the first quarter of 2026 were Winter Storm Fern in the US in January and Hurricane Niles in France in February. JPMorgan said the storm brought extreme temperatures, heavy snow, and freezing rain to parts of the United States. As a result, the damage was done. ’
“While this is a costly event overall, we believe these hurricanes are not significant events for the reinsurance industry, and we expect primary insurers to bear the bulk of the losses,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, according to a JP Morgan report, the war in the Middle East has not caused significant damage to insured companies at this time. “The exclusions related to war in insurance have been well tested. “We do not expect to see significant levels of risk at this time,” the report said, adding that reinsurance companies are likely to use up to 50% of the natural disaster budget for the first quarter of 2026. Which has a much better experience than the first quarter of 2025. It was affected by the Los Angeles tornado. ’
JP Morgan also highlighted that reinsurance prices in property catastrophe lines are declining at a comparatively faster pace in 2026 after 3 strong returns for reinsurance companies in 2023-25. “Mild catastrophe claims are positive for reinsurance companies’ reported results but do not help offset the decline in prices in the market,” JPMorgan said. –Agency
