The August issue of Best’s Review, the monthly insurance magazine published by AM Best, features exclusive rankings of top insurers across multiple lines of business. The rankings are derived from 2025 premium data, providing a snapshot of market leadership in key insurance segments.

Property and Casualty Rankings

The publication highlights leaders in several property and casualty categories, ranked by direct premiums written for 2025:

• US Property/Casualty: Ranked by line of business.
• US Total Auto: Ranked by direct premiums written.
• US Commercial Multiperil: Ranked by direct premiums written.
• US Homeowners Multiperil: Ranked by direct premiums written.
• US Workers’ Compensation: Ranked by direct premiums written.

Additionally, the issue includes rankings for Total Cyber insurance providers, also based on 2025 direct premiums written.

Life, Health, and Specialty Lines

The rankings extend to life and health contracts as well as specialty niches:

• US Medical Professional Liability: Broken down into Total, Claims-Made, and Occurrence categories.
• US Pet Insurance Plans: Ranked by 2025 direct premiums written.
• Largest Latin American Insurers: Ranked by 2025 gross premiums written.

For life and health products, the rankings cover:

• Group Annuities Premiums for Life Contracts
• Individual Annuities Premiums for Life Contracts
• Individual Life Premiums for Life Contracts
• Group Life Insurance Premiums for Life Contracts
• Accident & Health Insurance Contracts

All life and health rankings are based on 2025 premium figures.

About AM Best

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher, and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company operates in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Mexico City.

Munich Re and Lloyd’s have secured the top positions in AM Best’s latest rankings of the world’s largest reinsurers, with foreign currency exchange gains against the U.S. dollar playing a pivotal role. The results are part of the Best’s Market Segment Report, "World’s 50 Largest Reinsurers," released ahead of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo.

Munich Re reclaimed the number one spot among IFRS 17 reporting reinsurers, reversing its position from Swiss Re. This shift was supported by the Euro’s strong performance relative to the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, Lloyd’s moved to the top of the non-IFRS 17 ranking, overtaking Berkshire Hathaway, driven by premium growth and the appreciation of the British Pound against the U.S. dollar.

What the Numbers Show

The financial health of the leading IFRS 17 reporters has strengthened significantly. The top five players in this category reported a weighted combined ratio of 80.0% for 2025, marking a sharp improvement from the prior year’s figure of 84.9%. This divergence indicates that despite modest declines in reinsurance revenue year-over-year for both IFRS 17 and non-IFRS 17 groups, underwriting discipline and favorable loss ratios have enhanced profitability for the sector's largest entities.

The depreciation of the U.S. dollar against most currencies in 2025 enhanced the rankings of many non-USD-denominated reinsurers. AM Best converts all reporting currencies to USD using the foreign exchange rate as of the date of the companies’ financial statements. This marks the third full year of ranking-related financial information being reported under IFRS-17, providing clearer insights into year-over-year performance.

Underwriting and Loss Landscape

Underwriting performance remained strong in 2025, even as some material price softening occurred. The industry generated record levels of capital, fueled by multiple years of strong profitability following rate hardening and more favorable terms and conditions. Investment returns further supplemented these operating profits.

Christopher Pennings, senior financial analyst at AM Best, noted that risk-adjusted rate reductions occurred during recent renewal cycles, but terms and conditions largely held strong. Dan Hofmeister, associate director at AM Best, highlighted that the absence of significant U.S. hurricane activity in 2025 improved profitability, with no major hurricane making landfall.

However, the industry faced headwinds from other catastrophic events. Severe convective storms in the United States resulted in loss estimates reaching as much as USD 61 billion, according to broker estimates. Additionally, the California wildfires, which occurred within weeks of the new year, represented the largest insured loss of 2025. This event eroded a significant portion of exposed reinsurers’ allotted catastrophe capacity for the year, contributing to weak quarterly results early in the period after a profitable 2024.