Munich Re has reclaimed the top position in AM Best’s ranking of the world’s largest IFRS 17-reporting reinsurers, overtaking Swiss Re in the process. In the separate non-IFRS 17 ranking, Lloyd’s has moved ahead of Berkshire Hathaway to take the lead.

The movements represent a notable reshuffling in one of the reinsurance industry’s most closely watched annual league tables, with the German giant returning to the summit after previously ceding ground to its Swiss rival.

The IFRS 17 framework, which standardises how insurance contracts are reported on financial statements, has been adopted unevenly across the industry. AM Best’s decision to run parallel rankings acknowledges that reality, allowing a cleaner comparison within each reporting cohort rather than mixing incompatible figures.

Munich Re’s return to the top of the IFRS 17 table underlines the scale of its reinsurance operations. Swiss Re, which had previously held the leading position, falls to second. In the non-IFRS 17 list, Lloyd’s displacing Berkshire Hathaway is a headline result in its own right, given the profile of both institutions.

The full rankings and underlying data sit behind a subscription on Intelligent Insurer’s platform, so granular figures on written premium volumes and year-on-year movements are not publicly available from this report. What is clear is that the broad order of the market’s biggest players has shifted at the top of both tables.

For reinsurance professionals tracking competitive positioning, the AM Best rankings carry genuine weight. They offer a standardised external measure at a time when accounting differences can otherwise make direct comparisons between global carriers difficult.