All of our news and analysis on the retrocessional reinsurance marketplace.
Retrocession is effectively reinsurance for reinsurers, so a tertiary layer of risk transfer away from the original risk, if you consider primary, reinsurance and then retrocession.
As reinsurance is insurance for insurers, retrocessional, or retro, protection is reinsurance for reinsurers.
The retrocession reinsurance market has increasingly come to depend on the capital markets and insurance-linked securities (ILS).
As of mid-year 2022, global retrocession capacity has been estimated to be as high as $60bn, around $20bn of which is indemnity based and the rest in other formats.
The alternative capital markets and ILS funds, or investors, play a significant role in global retrocession, as too do instruments such as catastrophe bonds and industry-loss warranties (ILW).
At the January reinsurance renewals SCOR grew its North America catastrophe risk book, seeing pricing as still attractive and also expecting other opportunities to deploy more capacity there this year, while the reinsurer also expanded its Risk Partnerships business where third-party capital partners participate.
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Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance firm Lancashire Insurance Holdings is very pleased with the outcome of its outwards reinsurance at the January 1, 2026 renewals, with the firm’s Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) Paul Gregory particularly highlighting a strategic reduction in the firm’s aggregate attachment point.
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UK government backed mutual terrorism reinsurance firm Pool Re has completed the placement of its 2026 retrocession placement, securing £2.75 billion of aggregate excess of loss cover, which also includes new cover for non-damage business interruption (NDBI).
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The insurance-linked securities (ILS) fund sector began 2026 with an above-average January, as the average return across ILS funds tracked by the ILS Advisers Fund Index stood at 0.71% for the month.
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Swiss Re has reported strong profits and hitting its financial targets for 2025, as well as a relatively stable premium volume for the key January reinsurance renewals. Demonstrating the profitability of the reinsurance business the company will now return more capital to its shareholders, but is a second major player to opt for less retrocession […]
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Lumen Re’s, successful sponsorship of its first Rule 144A catastrophe bond, the $175 million Photon Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance, represents a natural evolution of the firm’s risk‑transfer strategy, and marks an important strengthening of its overall risk framework, CUO Klaus Sapelza said today.
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Munich Re has demonstrated the power of a large diversified reinsurance and insurance group in beating its profit target for 2025, while showing its desire to retain more of the economics of its re/insurance business by slashing its retrocession arrangements and scrapping its collateralized reinsurance sidecar programme.
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Lumen Re, the main reinsurance underwriting entity of LGT ILS Partners, has now successfully priced its debut Photon Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) catastrophe bond issuance below guidance, securing $175 million in retrocessional protection against losses from North American peak perils, Artemis can report.
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Lumen Re, the main reinsurance underwriting entity of LGT ILS Partners, is now aiming to secure up to $200 million in retrocessional protection against losses from North American peak perils with its debut Photon Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) catastrophe bond issuance, Artemis has learned.
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Conduit Re continued to evolve its retrocession strategy into 2026, with the pure-play reinsurance company securing enhanced protection for both peak and secondary perils, the company explained this morning.
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