Zurich’s aggregate reinsurance sized at $400m. Top-layer NA earthquake swap expanded

The new aggregate reinsurance arrangement purchased for 2025 by European headquartered re/insurer Zurich has been disclosed as a $400 million layer of protection, although with only $350 million placed. In addition, it is now clear the company has extended its top-layer North America earthquake swap protection.

Earlier this year we reported that Zurich took advantage of market conditions to buy a global aggregate reinsurance cover at the April 1st renewal, which the firm’s CFO called “innovative” and explained that it features alternative capacity from collateralized markets.

Information was limited at the time of our reporting, just knowing at the time that the aggregate catastrophe reinsurance would attach at $850 million in losses and covers all territories for Zurich.

Now, the insurer has disclosed that this global aggregate catastrophe treaty spans a $400 million layer above that $850 million retention.

But with an occurrence deductible in place of $50 million, only $350 million of the $400 million of limit has been placed, the disclosure shows (scroll down for a diagram of the tower).

As well as this, in our earlier reporting we discussed the fact Zurich’s Group CFO Claudia Cordioli also disclosed that the firm bought an additional $100 million of top-layer cover at the 1/1 renewals this year.

Now, thanks to disclosures made around its half-year results today, it becomes clear that this $100 million top-layer addition is within the US property catastrophe tower, a specific extension of Zurich’s North America earthquake swap.

While there are changes to retention and attachment levels for the European cat tower, this appears due simply to currency fluctuations over previous disclosures.

But, the latest disclosures also show a $50 million higher attachment point for Zurich’s US regional catastrophe reinsurance treaty, while that has also shrunk by a commensurate $50 million, to now provide $550 million of limit above a $650 million retention, where as earlier this year it was disclosed as $600 million xs $600 million.

That adjustment to the retention and regional US cat treaty could be in response to having secured the new global catastrophe aggregate protection, with Zurich making a small change to its US regional treaty to account for this additional protection, we suspect.

You can see Zurich’s latest catastrophe reinsurance program disclosure below, with the increased NA earthquake swap, slightly lower US regional coverage, and new global aggregate catastrophe reinsurance.