Capsicum Re switches to Gallagher Re to drive next phase of growth

Specialist reinsurance broker Capsicum Re will trade as Gallagher Re starting October in a bid to fully align the group's reinsurance business with Gallagher’s retail and wholesale insurance broking operations.

The rebrand follows the unveiling of the reinsurance broker’s new executive committee team in July, when Raja Balasuriya was named chairman and divisional heads Matt FitzGerald and Alistair Lockhart-Smith joined CEO Rupert Swallow, COO Simon Behagg and finance director Abbhi Bala to spearhead the next stage of its growth strategy.

Capsicum Re has grown to become the fifth largest reinsurance broker since its launch in 2013. The broker currently places $5.4 billion of gross written premium annually into the market through its global reinsurance hubs in the UK, US, Bermuda, Brazil and Chile.

Simon Matson, CEO of Gallagher’s broking and underwriting operations in the UK, said: “What this team has achieved in only six years of trading is remarkable, and that is thanks to an amazing group of talented individuals that came together and believed in what Capsicum Re would deliver for clients. With the vision of ultimately becoming a core part of Gallagher’s proposition, that team built a top five global reinsurance broker from the ground up and a blank sheet of paper. And today’s announcement kick-starts the next iteration as we look to realise the magnitude of untapped opportunity that lies ahead for our exceptional reinsurance team that will be Gallagher in name as well as in spirit, with one identity, one plan and one huge shared ambition.”

Swallow, CEO of Capsicum Re, said: “Everything the team has achieved to date has been done in true partnership with Gallagher. Right from the very beginning, Gallagher’s incubation of and investment in Capsicum Re has enabled us to build out this incredibly talented team where we combine top transactional expertise and entrepreneurial energy with market-leading analytics. It’s now the right time to fully align on brand, draw on the power of Gallagher and take our expertise, capabilities and solutions to every corner of the global Gallagher family and network, and beyond.”

Pat Gallagher, chairman, president and CEO of Gallagher, commented: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: what Chily, Rupert and the entire team have created is the best start-up I’ve seen in my 45-year career. A reinsurance broker run by brokers for brokers and one that made client advocacy and innovation its top priority from day one.

“We didn’t hesitate to back the vision and business plan of the founding Capsicum Re team because we knew it was a blueprint for how to create a market-leading reinsurance broker. Their reputation and track record gave us total confidence in their ability to succeed – a confidence that has been repaid many times over. What the team behind Gallagher’s reinsurance business has achieved is almost unbelievable. And now, trading as Gallagher Re, they’re just getting started.”