Massimo Reina on discipline in a softening reinsurance market in Reinsurance News

Capital is abundant and competition is increasing. But as reinsurance pricing falls, discipline matters more, not less.

Massimo Reina, CEO, Howden Re International, spoke with Reinsurance News at the Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo about what a more buyer-friendly market means for cedants, and why the conversation is moving beyond rate.

“Price is still part of it, but the more interesting conversations are about structure,” Massimo said.

As buyers revisit decisions made during the hard market, reinsurers are also becoming more selective about where they deploy capacity. For Massimo, that tension – more capital, greater competition and continued discipline – is defining the current phase of the market. 

Structure is back in the conversation

Buyers are reconsidering some of the decisions made during the hard market, including how much risk they retain and how their programmes respond to volatility.

“Cedants are revisiting retentions they raised during the hard market and asking whether they still make sense,” Massimo said. “We’re seeing renewed appetite for aggregate covers, for diversifying across geographies and perils, and for locking in multi-year terms or reinstatement provisions while capacity is willing to offer them.”

For reinsurers, greater competition doesn't remove the need for selectivity.

“Reinsurers, for their part, are being more disciplined about where they deploy that capital even as competition intensifies, because economic value creation gets harder as pricing falls,” Massimo said.

That tension – more capacity, falling prices and continued underwriting discipline – is shaping negotiations across the international market.

Think beyond this renewal

Some cedants are using softer conditions to reduce retentions. Others are considering additional limit or different ways to diversify their protection.

For Massimo, the more important point is how buyers use the current market.

“What is consistent is that buyers are thinking beyond this year’s price,” he said. “The smart conversations are about using currently favourable conditions to build resilience and preserve optionality before terms become harder to secure again.”

That matters in a market where pricing is softening but the wider risk environment remains unsettled.

How long those conditions persist – and what could change them – is less straightforward. 

In the full interview, Massimo discusses what is really driving current pricing softness, why the pace of change differs between markets, the contradiction emerging in international casualty and what reinsurers need to watch if softening continues into 2027. 

He also explains why, for cedants, today's conditions are about more than finding the cheapest terms.