Active Re focuses on strategic growth and innovation

“The launch of our new offices in Barbados affirms our commitment to fulfilling our requirements under the Economic Substance Act. This physical office now further enforces the visibility and strength of our brand that we have established over the past 17 years,” said Robert Ali, chief operations officer of Active Re.

Ali is confident that opening the new office on the Caribbean island will significantly enhance Active Re’s branding strategy in alignment with its global growth objectives and enable the “alignment of real-time customer service with all our business partners in the respective regions”.

This global alignment allows the company to respond swiftly to market demands, ensuring that clients receive timely and efficient service.

With a presence in 141 countries and employees in more than 14 cities, the company is poised to leverage its new location for increased market reach and improved client engagement.

Ali shared insights into the strategic significance of the new office. “Active Re has been domiciled in Barbados since 2013, and the company has developed a robust strategy for selecting and partnering with managing general agents (MGAs) to ensure alignment with its underwriting strategies and growth goals.”

“We have developed a rating methodology internally.”

Ali emphasised the importance of the MGA platform which has evolved significantly over the past five years.

“We have established very strong protocols in identifying the business partners and product lines we want to engage with,” he noted.

The company’s assessment process is comprehensive, focusing on short, medium, and long-term objectives.

“We have developed a rating methodology internally for the MGAs that we have aligned with along the DUAE methodology established by AM Best,” Ali explained.

“This is focused predominantly on a two-sided equation, which is financial and non-financial rating.”

It’s an approach that enables Active Re to ensure a full spectrum of service and support from its partners.

The rating methodology includes a weighted assessment that mirrors established industry standards, addressing not only underwriting but also governance, compliance, IT infrastructure, credit control processes and claims management.

Innovation through partnership

This meticulous approach to partnership selection enhances Active Re’ ability to innovate and offer tailored solutions in specialised markets.

Ali explained: “To enable us to expand these relationships, we conduct a very thorough gap analysis of our own portfolios, whether it be the in-house facultative book or the treaty book.”

This analysis helps identify specific territories, products, and sub-coverages that enable meaningful discussions to differentiate Active Re in the market.

As Active Re builds its network of MGA alliances, the company is careful that collaboration does not compromise its existing relationships but instead positions Active Re to identify new opportunities and innovate within its product offerings.

Marco Silva, head of global retrocession at Active Re, provided insights into how retrocession contributed to the company’s ability to balance risk and capital management amid volatile market conditions. “We have built a steady panel of reinsurers and retrocessionaires to enable us to always access the market when we need to limit our exposures,” Silva stated.

“This annual process involves maintaining contact with retrocessionaires to ensure financial security is upheld.”

The continuous analysis of retrocessionaires, in addition to the use of analytical and cat modelling tools, ensures that Active Re can manage its exposure effectively while navigating the challenges of the insurance landscape. This proactive approach to retrocession allows the company to stabilise its financial footing during fluctuating market conditions.

As Active Re continues to expand its portfolio, it is enhancing its treaty business to meet the evolving needs of clients.

Aleksandr Mazhorov, head of overseas treaty business, stated: “We see increasing demand in treaty reinsurance capacity, and this allows us to choose partners and treaties carefully.”

Mazhorov emphasised the importance of long-term relationships.

“We believe that companies can have bad and good years, but we should support them in all cases.”

Diversification across geographic locations and lines of business is also a significant approach for managing risk effectively.

“We aim to diversify as much as possible geographically, among different lines of business.

“Another approach would be to control accumulation: in some territories or lines of business, there might be too much accumulation, and we monitor that carefully,” Mazhorov concluded.

Robert Ali is chief operations officer of Active Re. He can be contacted at: rali@acreinsurance.com

Marco Silva is head of global retrocession (UK) at Active Re. He can be contacted at: msilva@acreinsurance.com

Aleksandr Mazhorov is head of overseas treaty business (Serbia) at Active Re. He can be contacted at: amazhorov@acreinsurance.com

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