Brit Re accelerates Bermuda expansion

Brit Insurance Group’s plans to expand its reinsurance operations in Bermuda are accelerating, with the company saying the growing diversity of the Island’s market makes it a natural move. 

Brit has had a relatively modest global specialty and property-catastrophe business in Bermuda for more than a decade, but group chief underwriting officer Jon Sullivan told Monte Carlo Today that it now plans to expand into other lines to complement its London business. 

Sullivan, who spent a decade as a reinsurance underwriter in Bermuda, said Brit plans to have about 20 employees in Bermuda by the end of 2025. 

The company named reinsurance veteran Jonathan Stephenson as head of the Bermuda office on September 4. The appointment came after former PartnerRe chief executive officer Jacques Bonneau joined the Brit Re board in June. 

“We’re conscious that the Bermuda market is growing into other classes that we do, and we should be part of that,” said Sullivan. “We think it’s an opportunity to say we have very good shares of London orders, but it’s another shop window.

“We haven’t got the Bermuda kind of share that we should have for the size we are,” he said.

“It became a very viable kind of opportunity.”

Sullivan said Brit had spent time under chief executive officer Martin Thompson, who took the permanent role in 2022, simplifying the business and sharpening its focus. This included building out Ki, a full digital Lloyd’s syndicate, which raised $500 million in capital at its launch. 

The company then turned its attention to Bermuda. 

“The exciting bit was that my recollection of when I was in Bermuda was that it was very much property-cat,” he said. “Now it does everything. I knew there was a lot of specialty down there, but when we started digging I was surprised how much was there, how many leaders were there, how the clients felt about it, and how much insurance was there. It became a very viable kind of opportunity.” 

Expansion plans

Sullivan said there was scope for Brit’s Bermuda operation to do more property-catastrophe, “but at some point, you run out of aggregate”. 

“We have the base piece there—a very mature book of great clients. We have an A rating, and the stars are aligning to build it out.” 

Sullivan said Brit Re currently underwrites US property treaty in Bermuda but expects to expand into international and pro rata. It expects to move one of its London-based staff on the casualty side to Bermuda, which will maintain the Brit culture. 

“It is much nicer having a tailwind.”

He said Brit Re will then look at expanding into specialty, but said it was likely to hire from outside the company to build those lines. He said Brit is a major specialty insurance underwriter in London, and added that Brit Re was likely to look at marine and energy on the reinsurance side. 

More broadly, Sullivan said he expected reinsurance rates to fall off slightly in the January renewals, adding: “You should be able to start a business at any point of the market. But it is much nicer having a tailwind.”

He said he expected some “tension” with carriers over European rates, noting that the region had experienced some “challenging losses” with floods, hailstorms and wildfires. 

“Do the deductibles move up?” he asked. “Does the pricing move up? There are some discussions to be had there so I think the mood will be interesting. They will be not expecting huge rate increases, but there has to be a bit of tension in terms of performance over the last few years,” he concluded. 

For more news from the Rendez-Vous de Septembre (RVS) click here.

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