IQUW unveils Bermuda reinsurance platform
IQUW has launched a Bermuda reinsurance platform to underwrite specialty risks. Led by former Sompo executive Stephen Young (pictured), IQUW Re Bermuda will focus on property catastrophe reinsurance through Syndicate 1856 at Lloyd’s.
The new platform will be backed with the group’s $1 billion of capital and will underwrite property catastrophe reinsurance, specialty lines and will also enter the mortgage and credit reinsurance segments.
IQUW Holdings Bermuda has also issued $170 million of senior debt that will enable it to leverage its Bermuda platform.
Young, who has been with IQUW since early 2022, said in an interview that the grant of the rating and the launch of the Class 3B reinsurer was a “wonderful thing” for the company, and the result of hard work by his team.
“This rating enhances our ability to write third-party business from Bermuda, which will provide IQUW with the flexibility to react to market conditions and expand in line with our risk appetite,” he said.
Peter Bilsby, IQUW group chief executive officer, said: “Securing an A- AM Best rating is a significant endorsement of IQUW’s financial strength and our capability to support clients on a global scale.
“As a Bermuda-based company, this rating allows us to expand alongside Lloyd’s. Our Bermudian platform is complementary to our Lloyd’s presence and will enable us to continue to responsibly grow the business through both locations.
“IQUW’s strong foundation has been delivered through excellent market collaboration and our vision of intelligent underwriting. That vision combines data and technology with human expertise to deliver insightful and fast responses to our clients and brokers – an approach that has seen us named by Gracechurch as delivering outstanding underwriting service – and one that provides us with a blueprint to continue to develop in Bermuda.”
Young told Intelligent Insurer that the new platform was the “the natural next step in IQUW’s evolution which provides us with the flexibility to underwrite reinsurance business from both our Bermuda platform/balance sheet and our Lloyd's operation”.
“The expansion provides us with greater access to both Bermuda and global markets, and improves our relevance and ability to serve both clients and brokers worldwide,” he said.
“We are building further franchise value through a new platform to achieve additional scale and diversification while proactively selecting future business opportunities and reacting nimbly to the changing market conditions that we see in the market every day,” he said.
“This also improves our flexibility to write on both Lloyd's and Bermuda balance sheets in the future, and allows us to be more relevant to clients and brokers within both the Lloyd’s and Bermuda markets.”
Young added: “I am so proud of this IQUW team and all the work that has led to this incredible milestone. It really has been a tremendous amount of work, and I'd like to thank each and every team member for all their hard work and effort to have accomplished this next step in our IQUW evolution.
“We're ready to start writing on our own balance sheet here in Bermuda with the Bermuda team immediately, but we are also going to be recruiting and hiring the best talent in Bermuda that can bring new analytical and underwriting capabilities to the team that aligns with our intelligent underwriting vision.”
Young said he expected to be hiring five to nine additional staff.
The Bermuda team currently underwrites marine, energy, aviation, composite, cyber and terrorism lines and will begin to write mortgage and credit reinsurance. They will also look at some casualty lines, but Young said they were primarily focused on shorter tail underwriting.
IQUW Group posted record profits in 2024, writing $1.6 billion in gross written premium and a Combined Ratio of 83.1% from the Bermuda platform and Lloyd’s Syndicates 1856 and 218.
The senior debt issue of $170 million was supported by funds and accounts managed or advised by Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd. (HSCM Bermuda) and investors associated with Kilter Finance. Howden Capital Markets & Advisory acted as financial advisors to IQUW on the debt issue.
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