Reinsurance News

Sompo Holdings, Inc. has announced that it will acquire insurance and reinsurance group Aspen Insurance Holdings in a deal valued at $3.5 billion, while it cites access to alternative capital through the Aspen Capital Markets unit as a key benefit and a “highly differentiated product offering.”

The recent growth trend in the alternative reinsurance capital market is forecast to persist into 2026, as supply of capital from investors and demand from sponsors seeking risk transfer remain robust, Fitch Ratings has said.

The reinsurance market cycle has become more subdued thanks to sound risk management practices, strategic use of technology and a maturing partnership with alternative capital (ILS), according to rating agency AM Best.

As per a new commentary from Morningstar DBRS, the reinsurance market has seen rapid growth in available capital, which reflects both retained earnings and the growing role of third-party capital, including insurance-linked securities, which has added competitive pressure to pricing but also broadened the industry’s financial foundation.

Enstar, one of the largest legacy and run-off reinsurance specialists in the world, has launched its first direct third-party capital play, a $300 million casualty reinsurance sidecar named Scaur Hill Re Ltd. which is backed by a number of institutional investors, Artemis has learned.

Record levels of catastrophe bond market issuance in 2025 are reshaping the pricing landscape, AM Best believes, but the rating agency sees no sign of a slow-down ahead, as “all indications point to continued growth.”

As per David Flandro, Managing Director, Head of Industry Analysis and Strategic Advisory at reinsurance broker Howden Re, “if it wasn’t obvious already, we are now firmly in the hard market softening phase of the rating cycle.”

As technology continues to reshape the insurance and reinsurance industry, companies must adapt by differentiating with AI, navigating capital complexities and using it in all its forms, while reinventing distribution to meet the demands of today’s digital world, according to Frank Schepers, Global Leader ICT, and Sina Thieme, Senior Director, ICT at broker WTW.

Following the recent launch of its tokenized fund MCM Fund I, Artemis spoke to Benjamin Fox, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Members Capital Management Limited (MembersCap), who explained how the fund opens up the private reinsurance market to a group of investors who previously had no exposure to this asset class.

A quieter July in catastrophe loss terms resulted in US insurer Allstate only reporting $184 million in pre-tax impacts from severe weather events, which has lifted the total for the current annual aggregate risk period for its catastrophe bonds to $2.174 billion so far.