Somerset Re takes new capital as investor joins Hannover Re-led firm

US life and annuity reinsurer Somerset Re will take a "substantial" capital injection from newly onboarded shareholder Aquarian Holdings which will buy out several minority stakeholders and join  Hannover Re and Somerset Re founders to drive the company to further growth.

Atlas Merchant Capital and several other existing shareholders have agreed to sell their stakes to Aquarian while  Hannover Re and Weiss Family Interests, which includes Somerset Re founder George Weiss (pictured), remain in the Somerset Re shareholder pool.

“The transaction will provide Somerset Re with a substantial amount of immediate and committed new capital to further drive growth, fortify Somerset Re’s strong market position, and provide additional resources to support its robust pipeline of opportunities,” sides said of otherwise undisclosed terms.

Somerset Re, which claims growth of 93% per annum to $5 billion in assets under management as of end-2021, intends to “continue its liability-focused approach to providing a strong professional reinsurance option to the market.”

Aquarian's founder and managing partner Rudy Sahay commented: “We are very excited to have Somerset Re join the Aquarian platform. Since our launch, we have successfully partnered with premier insurers and asset managers to support their strategic growth. We look forward to further developing and scaling Somerset Re alongside CEO Jeff Burt and the management team, in partnership with their strong strategic shareholders.”

Somerset Re CEO Jeff Burt said: “I am delighted to partner with Aquarian and welcome their strategic investment in our platform as we continue to build on our well-established track record of success, alongside the continued support of our founder George Weiss and  Hannover Re. Aquarian brings highly differentiated asset-management capabilities focused on the insurance market that will add to our long-term partnering and solution-oriented approach to servicing our customers.”

Hannover Re board member Klaus Miller added: “We are pleased with the recognition of the success in our current investment and look forward to continuing our successful relationship and growing our collective businesses into the future.”

Aquarian Holdings is a diversified holding company with interests in businesses including insurance, asset management, real estate, and technology offering debt and equity capital solutions for its partners and portfolio companies.

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