During global re/insurer Everest Group’s Q3 2025 earnings call today, Jim Williamson, President and CEO of the firm, outlined that the property catastrophe reinsurance market is still a very favourable environment.Everest posted strong third quarter results for its reinsurance business, with solid premium growth seen in Property Catastrophe XOL and in Property Non-Catastrophe XOL, partially offset by decrease in Casualty Pro-Rata and Casualty XOL, Speaking today during the Bermudian re/insurer’s third quarter earnings call, Williamson was questioned on how Everest is thinking about its reinsurance business heading into 2026, given current property reinsurance pricing conditions.“I would characterise it in general as still being a very favourable environment and one of the points that I made on the last quarter’s call was that if you didn’t know that prices had corrected up by 50% at 1/1 2023, and you just looked at the rate level that’s currently persisting in the market, and compared it to prior historical rate levels, let’s say in the 20 teens, you would say this is a great cat market, and people should be writing it.And I think that’s true,” Williamson explained.

“And I think that’s why you’re seeing the competition.People recognise that its well-priced and they want to write it.” He continued: “Prices will likely come down.There are various estimates, let’s say a 10% expectation of price decreases at 1/1, I still think that means that property cat is well priced.

So, I think it’s still a risk that we will be looking to take now.“When the market moves down 10%, that’s going to mean there’s going to be some clients where we view the pricing and we don’t think it’s adequate, and we’ll adjust accordingly.” Williamson also stressed that regardless of whether 2025 is a low activity year for natural catastrophe events, nothing that Everest plans to undertake during the January 2026 renewals, or at any future renewals, will be affected by that.“First of all, it didn’t feel that light.

We started with a major wildfire; we’ve got a category five hurricane churning in the Caribbean right now.We don’t react to one good year and say, we’re going to do one thing or the other based on that,” the CEO added.“We’re making long term bets based on where we see the pricing trajectory of the business, and you will not see us be afraid when the time comes, if it comes, to begin pulling back, taking chips off the table if we’re not getting paid appropriately for the risks that we’re being asked to bear.” Later in the call, discussion turned towards the recent adverse development reinsurance deal made between Stone Ridge, the alternative risk premia focused investment management group, and Everest Group, Williamson was asked about the search process for the ADC partner and Everest’s choice of choosing to go with a non-rated reinsurer in Longtail Re.

“We were facing off against two rated fronting carriers as part of the transaction, so we’re not taking credit risk to Longtail Re.We have very strongly rated balance sheets facing up that’s front in the transaction.So, it’s a good question, and something we thought carefully about,” Williamson explained.

“We ran a very comprehensive process.We used Gallagher Re as our broker in the process.Their casualty team is world class; they did a very comprehensive search.

We worked with a number of parties, but what I really liked about Longtail Re is a couple things.We have a pre-existing relationship with Stone Ridge Asset Management through Mt.Logan, they’ve been a very steadfast partners of ours.

“So, that was a feature, and I think there’s a lot our companies do together today and can do together going forward.So, I think this outcome is just fantastic for Everest, and I think it’ll prove to be a really good trade for Longtail as well.”.All of our Artemis Live insurance-linked securities (ILS), catastrophe bonds and reinsurance can be accessed online.

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