Fortitude Re boost US capabilities with new reinsures and acquisitions
Fortitude Re has launched a new Bermuda multiline reinsurer and acquired a US life insurer. Its subsidiary, Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd (FRL), meanwhile, has obtained approval to operate as a reciprocal jurisdiction reinsurer, gaining the first such approval granted by the Texas Department of Insurance.
The approval allows Fortitude Re to transact through multiple entities and structures to help clients meet their objectives.
The new multiline reinsurer, Fortitude International Reinsurance Ltd, started operations at the beginning of January as a Class 4 and Class E reinsurer licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. It will complement Fortitude Re’s existing operating entities and focus on reinsurance solutions for insurers domiciled outside the US.
The acquisition of Rx Life Insurance Company was completed on 3 January. An Arizona domiciled life and annuity insurer widely licensed in the US, it will be renamed Fortitude US Reinsurance Company (Fortitude Re US) and serve as a US reinsurance platform.
Finally, the TDI’s approval of FRL as a reciprocal jurisdiction reinsurer allows ceding companies to take full statutory credit for reinsurance ceded to it without any regulatory prescribed collateral requirements. Effectively, it treats FRL as a US domiciled reinsurer. FRL is among the first reinsurers to obtain the status in the US and expects to seek approval in other US jurisdictions in the near future.
“The transactions and regulatory approval represent an important step in the evolution and expansion of the capabilities Fortitude Re is able to offer to clients to solve their most complex challenges,” said James Bracken, Fortitude Re CEO.
“With the establishment of FIRL, we expect to grow our international reinsurance business in Asia and the UK and European markets.”
The new developments follow other recent transactions to bolster Fortitude Re’s capabilities. They include the acquisition of two US-domiciled third party administrators from American International Group and the pending acquisition of Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation and its in-force legacy variable annuity block from Prudential Financial Inc.
