The hardening market in the reinsurance sector is the best in decades, a leading insurance executive has said.

Conduit Re executive chairman Neil Eckert made the comment as his company released its third quarter trading statement.

Mr Eckert said: "As we move towards the industry-important 1 January renewals, the existing capacity shortage in the reinsurance sector is turning into a capacity crunch.

“Hurricane Ian and a deteriorating macro-economic situation have further impacted balance sheets and risk appetite on both sides of supply and demand for reinsurance. I believe this hardening environment is the best the industry has seen in decades."

Trevor Carvey, Conduit Re chief executive officer, added: “The creation and development of Conduit Re has been perfectly timed.

“In the past two years, we have built a lean and efficient reinsurance business, with an excellent underwriting team that is ideally positioned to take full advantage of current market conditions.

“The growth we have shown in our premium income, together with the high-quality book of business we have assembled, which will continue to earn through to our income statement in future periods, gives us great confidence for the rest of this year and beyond."

Conduit Re reported that estimated ultimate premiums written were up 55 per cent on the nine months ended September 30 2021, to $600.9 million -- and gross premiums written were up 81 per cent to $528.1 million for the same period

In a high catastrophe loss year for the industry, Conduit Re said, its focused risk selection restricted the impact from major loss events.

Based on current information, the current estimated loss, net of reinsurance recoveries and reinstatement premiums, is approximately $40 million from Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in Florida as a strong category 4 hurricane on September 28.