** Morgan Stanley says the reinsurers' "golden era" of positive pricing, revenue growth and tighter terms and conditions is ending and advises to better differentiate between the companies
** As the cycle has started to turn for the reinsurers, U.S. hurricane season comes amid growing uncertainty about federal government's role in paying for disaster expenses, MS says
** Among the European reinsurers, MS says it continues to favour Hannover Re HNRGn.DE and SCOR SCOR.PA, both "overweight"-rated
** It looks more cautiously on Munich Re MUVGn.DE and Swiss Re SRENH.S, cutting both to "underweight" from "equal-weight" on exposure to weakened backdrop and ongoing FX pressures
** The end of the reinsurance "golden era" should help narrow the valuation gap for the U.S. peers Arch and RenRe vs the larger European ones - MS
COMPANY | RATING | OLD RATING |
Munich Re MUVGn.DE | Underweight | Equal-Weight |
Swiss Re SRENH.S | Underweight | Equal-Weight |
Hannover Re HNRGn.DE | Overweight | Overweight |
SCOR SCOR.PA | Overweight | Overweight |
Arch Capital ACGL.O | Overweight | Overweight |
RenRe RNR.N | Overweight | Overweight |
(Reporting by Cian Muenster)
((Cian.muenster@thomsonreuters.com))