What You Need to Know
- COVID-19 led to $340 million in U.S. individual life claims.
- The level of claims per 100,000 reported U.S. deaths was at the lower end of what RGA had expected.
- Increased mortality added $11 million to longevity reinsurance results.
Reinsurance Group of America Inc. says it did well in the first quarter despite a big surge in COVID-19 mortality claims.
RGA protects life insurers against the risk that death benefits claims will be higher than expected, and pension plans and annuity issuers against the risk that annuity benefits streams will last longer than expected.
COVID-19 killed about 191,000 U.S. residents in the first quarter, and it has killed a total of about 565,000 people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At RGA, the pandemic led to:
- $340 million in U.S. individual mortality claim costs.
- $98 million in claim costs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
- $36 million in claims costs in other regions.
- $11 million in gains for pension and annuity reinsurance operations.
Thanks to strong results outside of the United States and Latin America, and strong earnings on reinsurance arrangements not linked to mortality throughout the world, RGA posted a profit for the first quarter.
The Chesterfield, Missouri-based company is reporting $139 million in net income for the quarter on $4.1 billion in revenue, up from a net loss of $88 million on $3.2 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2020.
Anna Manning, RGA’s CEO, said the company’s results show its resilience.