Greenlight Capital Re

The total return reinsurance model, or investment oriented reinsurance model, or hedge fund backed reinsurance model (depending on what you prefer to call it), remains a challenging strategy to execute on well, but more recent start-ups that are sponsored by an existing re/insurer and asset manager are favoured by S&P.

Greenlight Re, the Cayman Islands and Ireland based investment-oriented reinsurance firm which is backed by hedge fund manager David Einhorn, is looking for risk sourcing opportunities in Europe and Asia, striking a partnership to help it expand.

The two highest-profile proponents of the hedge fund reinsurance strategy, Third Point Re and Greenlight Re, have both benefited from very strong July investment returns, with a considerable boost to the year being received at both firms.

The performance of hedge fund reinsurers diverged in the opening months of 2016 following investment market volatility. Consistently being outperformed by traditional reinsurers Standard & Poor’s (S&P) questions the longevity, and success of the hedge fund reinsurance business model.

Third Point Re, the Bermudian reinsurance firm backed by Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC hedge fund, has come out on top after the second-quarter when the firms investment portfolio return far outperformed the other main hedge fund reinsurer Greenlight Re.

Fortunes of the two main hedge fund reinsurance strategy proponents, David Einhorn backed Greenlight Re and Daniel Loeb backed Third Point Re, have reversed in the second-quarter to-date, with Einhorn’s Greenlight Re suffering an investment loss, while Loeb’s Third Point Re reported positive returns.

Over the first-quarter of 2016 the results of the two main hedge fund backed reinsurance firms diverged, both on underwriting and investment returns, as Einhorn backed Greenlight Re reported a profit, while Loeb backed Third Point Re fell to a loss.

At the end of the first-quarter of 2016 the two leading proponents of the hedge fund reinsurance firms continued to show that, when it comes to navigating the financial market investment environment, not every strategy is equal.

The hedge fund reinsurance strategy continues to demonstrate its volatility in 2016, as the two main proponents of the strategy, backed by leading hedge fund managers, see their performance diverge as Greenlight Re outperforms Third Point Re again in February.

The differences in hedge fund reinsurance investment portfolios was again evident in the first month of 2016, with Greenlight Re reporting a positive investment return, while Third Point Re fell to an investment loss in January.