SiriusPoint hammered by cat losses

SiriusPoint has reported a net loss of $48 million and a combined ratio of 152% for the third quarter. The insurer, launched with around £2 billion in initial capital in February, was heavily by catastrophe losses: $287m or 56 percentage points on its combined ratio. That includes $132m for the European floods and $100m for Hurricane Ida.

Gross premiums written for the period were $653.7m.

Sid Sankaran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, SiriusPoint, said: “The losses the industry has reported - not just this quarter but in the past few years - serve to validate our focus on managing the volatility of our Property business, as we continue to implement the changes identified by our line-by-line business review. We are making strong progress exiting risks that no longer fit our risk profile or where we do not see attractive risk-adjusted returns - the full impact of our efforts will materialize next year due to the heavy January renewal nature of the business.”

Losses were offset significantly by solid investment returns, he added, with the company reporting net investment income of $200m.

“Our focus remains on delivering sustainable underwriting profitability to create value for our shareholders. This will be achieved by reallocating capital away from property cat and investment risk into our MGA platform within Insurance & Services, combined with rigorous risk management and disciplined underwriting,” continued Sankaran.

“We expect our actions and improvements each quarter to deliver progress towards the transformational and profitable company we are seeking to become.”