Münchener Rück AG

Munich Re has agreed to acquire US-based insurtech company At-Bay at an enterprise value of $575m. At-Bay's unified security platform identifies, monitors and reduces insured cyber risk across the policy life cycle, while also generating data insights to improve underwriting and security innovation. The company will be overseen by Hartford Steam Boiler, the technology-focused cyber arm of Munich Re's Specialty insurance portfolio, which has supported At-Bay since its founding in 2017 and helped it become a top-ten US cyber insurer with gross written premiums totalling $278m. The deal is intended to strengthen Munich Re's position in the cyber insurance market by combining cover with proactive risk mitigation and a technology platform. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2027.

Munich Re and Lloyd's have reached the top of AM Best's rankings of the world's largest reinsurers, driven by foreign currency gains against the U.S. dollar. Munich Re reclaimed the top position among IFRS 17 reporting reinsurers, overtaking Swiss Re, while Lloyd's moved to the top of the non-IFRS 17 ranking, surpassing Berkshire Hathaway. The rankings are part of AM Best's new market segment report on the world's 50 largest reinsurers, released ahead of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo. The top five IFRS 17 players reported a weighted combined ratio of 80.0% in 2025, down from 84.9% the prior year. Reinsurers' underwriting performance remained strong in 2025 despite some price softening, with record capital levels driven by multiple years of strong profitability.

Manulife Financial reported second-quarter core earnings per share rose 16% year over year, driven by record Asia earnings and strong wealth management inflows, while also announcing a new long-term care reinsurance agreement with Munich Re. Core earnings increased 12% and core return on equity reached 16.3%, up 130 basis points. Asia core earnings grew 21% to a record, with APE sales up 21% led by Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. Global Wealth and Asset Management recorded CAD 4 billion of net inflows, though Canadian core earnings fell 10% due to unfavorable disability and group insurance claims. The Munich Re deal transfers biometric risk on CAD 3.2 billion of reserves via an 80% quota share, bringing total long-term care morbidity risk reduction to 24%. Manulife ended the quarter with a 136% LICAT ratio and returned CAD 1.4 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.

European stock markets closed higher on Friday as mostly encouraging earnings updates and decent economic data helped offset concerns about Middle East tensions. The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.31%, Germany's DAX moved up 0.69%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.17%, and the UK's FTSE 100 ended 0.31% up. Weak U.S. jobs data showing a drop of 23,000 jobs in July against expectations of a 70,000 gain raised hopes the Federal Reserve will not hike interest rates soon. In corporate news, SAP, Scout24, Infineon, Siemens and BMW gained 2% to 4% in Germany, while Daimler Truck Holding shed nearly 3% despite reporting a bottom line of EUR1.457 billion, up from EUR277 million a year earlier. Allianz closed lower by about 1.6% after second-quarter earnings fell to EUR2.595 billion from EUR2.841 billion, and Munich RE dropped 1.4% even as net profit rose to €2.211 billion from €2.085 billion.

Manulife Financial Corporation has agreed to reinsure the biometric risk on a block of long-term care policies with $3.2 billion of reserves to Munich American Reassurance Company, a subsidiary of Munich Re Group. This is Manulife's third LTC reinsurance transaction and its first on a standalone LTC block, involving full risk transfer with no asset transfer. Upon closing, expected in the fourth quarter of 2026 pending regulatory approvals, Manulife will have cumulatively reduced its LTC morbidity sensitivity by 24% across all three deals. The transaction is priced similarly to prior deals with a modest negative 5% cede, is largely neutral to capital, and will have an immaterial annual impact on core earnings and net income attributed to shareholders of approximately $30 million in the first year, decreasing over time.

The German DAX index fell 0.5% on Tuesday, losing 130.03 points to 25,702.49, as Middle East tensions and weakness in the tech sector pressured markets. Brent crude futures rose nearly 2% to $73.31 a barrel after reports that Iranian missiles struck commercial vehicles near the Strait of Hormuz. Siemens Energy dropped 6.55% after Barclays downgraded the stock to underweight, while Infineon Technologies fell 5.7%. In contrast, Beiersdorf climbed nearly 3% and Munich RE gained 2.75%. Destatis reported that German industrial production grew 0.9% month-on-month in May, exceeding the expected 0.1% increase.