Fidelis gets capital injection from US insurance giant Travelers

Fidelis Insurance Holdings Limited, the specialty insurance and reinsurance firm launched by Richard Brindle, has expanded its capital base again thanks to a new strategic investment from an intriguing source, US insurance giant The Travelers Companies Inc.

Travelers has invested an undisclosed amount into Fidelis, which the recipient terms a “minority investment.”

Fidelis has been particularly successful in raising new capital to support the ongoing expansion of its insurance and reinsurance underwriting platform over the last couple of years, having raised over $1.3 billion in 2020 alone.

That took its equity and debt capital base to more than US $2.4 billion, as we explained last December.

But, of course, in addition to that, Fidelis has also been expanding its use of third-party reinsurance capital, through its sidecar quota shares and third-party capital partnerships through Socium and also its growing catastrophe bond program.

The Herbie Re cat bond issuances alone now amount to $550 million of reinsurance capital raised from the capital markets.

So Fidelis has grown considerably over the last two years and today’s announcement of a highly respected insurance carrier taking a minority stake in the company is testament to its efforts and success.

Hinal Patel, Group Chief Financial Officer of Fidelis, commented on the news saying, “We are delighted to welcome Travelers to our shareholder panel. Travelers and Fidelis are leaders in their fields, with proven track records in our respective markets. We believe that there will be opportunities to learn from each other and work together.”

Greg Toczydlowski, Executive Vice President and President of Business Insurance at Travelers also said, “We are pleased to invest in a talented and proven management team and look forward to gaining insights from them into the specialty, non-admitted market. As an innovative company with a successful track record, Fidelis is an excellent fit for our investment appetite.”