Hurricane Ian May Hurt Florida Properties, and Actually Help Insurers

When Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida on the morning of Aug. 24, 1992, insurance stocks opened down. But by noon they’d recovered and the sector closed up that day, recalls MKM Partners analyst Harry Fong in a Tuesday note. The storm left Dade County with $35 billion in insurance claims (in current dollars), but let reinsurers significantly raise prices, and most insurers prospered the next year.

That’s why today’s dreadful approach of Hurricane Ian toward western Florida is lifting shares of reinsurers above the


S&P 500


0.5% rise on Wednesday morning. Reinsurance stocks tend to fall before a storm, then rise after. The sector dropped about 10% last week, but now it’s on the rise. Before this year’s hurricane season, reinsurance premium prices have been strong and investors see a storm surge carrying them higher.