Ageas Re, the reinsurance arm of international insurance group Ageas, reported strong growth in its third-party business during its January-July 2026 renewal campaign, driven by share gains in selected plans and significant new business generation.
During the period, the reinsurer continued to expand its third-party business portfolio and further diversified its underwriting platform, although it said market conditions were deteriorating faster than expected.
Ageas Re said: “In response to the changing market environment, the company has accelerated its cycle management strategy by expanding its professional investment portfolio, increasing its presence in Asia, selectively reducing operations that do not meet technical return requirements and making greater use of proportional structures.”
New business generation was a major contributor to the company’s January-July results, with new written business exceeding renewable business during the April-July renewal period. The reinsurer also renewed two important partnership contracts during the renewal period, which represent significant premiums for the company.
For Fortis Re, the mid-year renewal season was particularly strong and was a major contributor to January-July results as the company doubled its business volume compared to 2025 levels.
The company explained: “Ageas Re has also successfully restored the vast majority of targeted client relationships and increased participation in select plans. This has helped offset some of the market-driven rate reductions and demonstrates continued customer and broker confidence in Ageas Re’s underwriting expertise, technical capabilities and long-term commitment.”
Excluding partnerships, total third-party business inflows increased by 38% year-on-year. Due to the soft market and the mixed business impact of deliberately increasing the proportion of business, the overall expected profitability is slightly lower than the previous year.
In fact, the distribution of premiums between non-proportional and proportional business has changed significantly in 2026 compared with 2025, Ageas Re said, helping to reduce portfolio volatility and capital intensity despite helping to improve underwriting ratios.
A look at the reinsurer’s renewal results by line of business shows that the property business generated strong growth and remains the largest contributor to the company’s production. In 2026, growth will be driven primarily by physical damage business, including fire and catastrophe risks, while the reinsurer is selectively reducing or withdrawing capacity from Property Cat opportunities as it believes pricing no longer meets technical requirements. Ageas Re has also reallocated capacity to pursue more attractive opportunities in Mexico, the Caribbean and selected Asian markets.
The Professional business is another area of ​​growth for Ageas Re in the renewal period from January to July 2026, with the Engineering business growing to €23 million, the Agriculture business growing to €35 million, and the Credit and Bonds business achieving solid growth and further international diversification.
The property and casualty business also delivered solid results for Fortis Re during this period, despite intense competitive pressure across almost all market segments. The reinsurer noted that it defended its key position, selectively increased share in targeted plans and maintained positive pricing margins.
Joachim Racz, CEO of Ageas Re, said: “I would like to thank the Ageas Re team for delivering another strong renewal result in a rapidly softening market. These results are a testament to our growing market relevance, our ability to diversify across business lines and geographies, and our continued underwriting discipline. My sincere thanks to our customers and partners for their continued trust and commitment to Ageas Re.”
In January, we reported that Ageas Re had achieved growth in its non-catastrophe business when it renewed on January 1, 2026, while its catastrophe business remained stable.
