Reinsurance Intelligence · Risk appetite

Retentions

Retention is the amount of risk or loss the cedant keeps for its own account before reinsurance responds.

Why it is used

It balances premium cost, earnings volatility, capital, liquidity, and underwriting control.

Illustrative example

A per-risk retention may differ from the net catastrophe retention after all programme protections.

Programme questions

Gross versus net retention
Per-risk and per-event interaction
Capital and liquidity under stress

Educational overview only. Reinsurance effect depends on the complete contract, programme structure, accounting basis, law, facts, and counterparties. The original insurer normally remains responsible to its policyholder.