hedge fund

Adverse economic conditions and reinsurance market turmoil has challenged industry participants throughout 2015 and into 2016, with hedge fund reinsurers being no exception, but it’s still too early to call this approach a failure, according to A.M. Best.

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.

Bermuda based hedge fund backed reinsurance firm Third Point Re saw its asset side outperform in the second quarter of 2016, as a rise in its combined ratio and a technical underwriting loss was compensated for by higher investment returns.

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.

Bermuda based total return reinsurance firm Third Point Re has renewed its investment management agreements with Daniel Loeb’s Third Point LLC for a further five years, and added an agreement between the reinsurers U.S. arm and the hedge fund manager.

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.