New Germany reinsurer Balance Re completes series A funding

A new reinsurer has been launched in Germany that will specialise in quantitative asset-liability management. Following its Series A funding round, its investors now comprise: Roland Berger Industries, Talabot Finance, Anthemis Group and Global Brain.

Balance Re, a life reinsurance start-up, has raised $10m from financial services investor Anthemis Group, with participation from venture capital firm Global Brain. These complement existing investors Roland Berger Industries and Talabot Finance.

Balance Re says it offers comprehensive reinsurance solutions to life insurance companies and pension funds to support capital management related to their retirement and saving products.

The Series A investment will be used to further develop Balance Re’s proprietary asset-liability management technology and to support its fully licensed German reinsurance company based in Cologne.

In Balance Re’s launch market, Germany, Solvency II’s transitional measures represent on average ca. 150 percentage points of life insurers’ solvency capital ratios. Balance Re claims its technology- and data-driven approach to reinsurance enables clients to release capital to fund growth, support product repositioning and improve (or regain) a competitive advantage.

Lucian Rautu (pictured) and Michel Gauer, the founders of Balance Re, said: "We are delighted to welcome Anthemis and Global Brain in the capital of Balance Re and at the board. Their deep industry knowledge and capacity to take an "outside-the-box" approach to venture investments in the insurance space make them the perfect partners to disrupt the life reinsurance market."

Matthew Jones, managing director at Anthemis, said: "Balance Re’s team and their technology reflect the complex interactions between actuarial, financial, accounting and regulatory matters. Balance Re’s coverage is designed to help clients reach their strategic goals whilst also keeping the interests of their policyholders in mind – we’re excited to see them drive much needed change in the life reinsurance sector."

Naoki Kamimaeda, partner at Global Brain, said: "We believe that the technology developed by the Balance Re team has far reaching applications beyond life reinsurance and Europe. We are enthusiastic to join them at this important stage of the journey and look forward to helping them realise their vision to improve the management of long-term insurance and pension liabilities globally."

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