Year: 2026

Matthew Whyte joins Willis Re as a broker, bringing 38 years of industry experience to further strengthen the company’s client support capabilities. Whyte spent 32 years with Guy Carpenter and its predecessor firms, leading client teams across global marine and energy, real estate and integrated accounts, and multi-level captive treaties. Wills Re explains: “Matthew strongly…

According to Howden’s latest renewal report, when reinsurance is renewed on January 1, 2026, the decline in European property catastrophe rates varies by region, with declines of up to 20%, and the company expects this part of the market to decline further in 2026. The global insurance and reinsurance brokerage group said these reductions in…

Australian insurer IAG has successfully implemented its 2026 catastrophe reinsurance program, adding RACQ Insurance (RACQI) to its primary catastrophe insurance, all-account quota share (WAQS) arrangement and total stop-loss protection. Readers may recall that following the successful acquisition of RACQI on September 1, 2025, IAG upgraded its fiscal year 2026 guidance. IAG’s catastrophe reinsurance program, combined…

Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (RSUM), the underwriting management arm of Ryan Specialty, announced that Leopanthera will be renamed Ryan Financial Lines, effective January 1, 2026. Leopanthera, a specialist in underwriting a diversified financial product line globally, joined Ryan Specialty in November 2024 through the acquisition of Innovisk Capital Partners. Since its establishment in 2017, the…

Global reinsurer Hannover Re has announced the appointment of John Walters as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of Hannover Life Re Australia. Hannover Life Re Australia (Hannover Life Re) is a specialist provider of insurance and reinsurance solutions to superannuation funds, distribution partners, employers and other insurers, helping them protect and grow their…

Bobby Swarup, an insurance industry veteran with more than two decades of experience, has announced the establishment of a new company, Niyam Group, in India, which will bring more reinsurance capital to the market. Niyam’s vision is to build economic resilience and achieve equitable growth, in line with India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 ambitions. “Niyam is…

Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter’s January 2026 renewal report shows global prices in the marine, energy and technology sectors all falling as new and existing capacity continues to diversify away from real estate and into already crowded specialty markets. In specialty lines on January 1, 2026, rates for reinsurance renewals for businesses not affected by losses…

Catalina Re, a provider of capital management and risk transfer solutions to the global insurance industry, has appointed Peter Mason as group chief risk officer. Catalina Re’s former group chief risk officer Andrew Pryde has left to join SiriusPoint as group chief risk officer, effective September 2025. Mason joins Catalina Re from the Bermuda Monetary…

UK-registered insurance company Admiral Group has completed the sale of its US auto insurance business, including Elephant Insurance Company and Elephant Insurance Services (Elephant), to JC Flowers & Co., a global private investment firm focused on investing in the financial services industry. Admiral originally announced the deal in April 2025. The transaction was concluded for…

Ascot Group has appointed Ashleigh Edwards as group head of ceded reinsurance, where she will lead the company’s global ceded reinsurance strategy, covering its structure, placement approach and business lines. Edwards joins Ascot from RenaissanceRe for more than six years, most recently as senior vice president and global head of casualty reinsurance. She brings around…