Ageas Re, the reinsurance arm of the international insurance group Ageas, achieved growth in non-catastrophe business when the policy was renewed on January 1, 2026, while the catastrophe business remained stable. Compared with the January 1, 2025 renewal, the total underwriting business for this renewal increased by 21%.
As of January 1, 2026, Ageas Re’s active books (excluding partnerships) totaled €262 million, of which €206 million is subject to renewal. The reinsurer chose not to renew contracts totaling €15 million on 1 January 2026, mainly due to pricing considerations, which meant that €191 million was successfully renewed, a difference of €6 million.
“This means that the larger share Ageas Re writes in the renewal letter is more than enough to offset the impact of price deterioration, underscoring the brand’s strong reputation among existing customers and continued commercial momentum, leading to an increase in share in this highly competitive market,” the company explained.
For the renewal book, Ageas Re’s risk-adjusted rate change was -5.3%, highlighting further price weakness, with the real estate portfolio seeing the most significant rate change at -8.6%. Casualties, however, were less affected.
In addition to the renewed business, Ageas Re secured €54 million in new business across regions in 2026-1.1, with strong growth in the Professional business segment. As a result, the reinsurer’s total production at renewal in January was 250 million euros, 21% higher than the previous year, while the effective book in 20261.1 increased to 306 million euros (excluding partnerships).
At the time of the renewal, Ageas Re also entered into a new partnership with a UK-based MGA, generating revenue of approximately €130 million in a multi-category business focused primarily on home insurance. Including this new contract, the company’s active book now stands at €435 million, with the reinsurer achieving total inflows of €379 million at 1.1 2026, an increase of 84% from €206 million at 1.1 2025.
Joachim Racz, CEO of Ageas Re, said: “I would like to thank the team for once again putting in a huge effort to achieve excellent results, demonstrating our resilience in difficult market conditions and demonstrating strong cycle management. A sincere ‘thank you’ to our customers and partners for their commitment to developing their relationship with Ageas Re.”
The company saw growth in its non-Cat real estate and specialty segments at 1.1% in 2026, while Cat remained stable. The real estate sector has experienced significant growth due to an accelerated shift to non-cat products, with the real estate cat category seeing the largest overall rate declines. However, the real estate segment saw modest growth, which Ageas Re attributed to portfolio expansion in new business.
In the specialty segment, inflows more than doubled and witnessed “significant profit contribution”, even as fierce market competition led to lower sign-ups at some of Fortis Re’s key clients.
The company’s casualty book generated modest revenue growth, driven by new treaties outside the UK automotive portfolio and further growth into non-automotive product lines.
In addition, Ageas Re has completed several structured transactions in its various business areas, in line with its strategy.
Interestingly, the premium split between non-proportional and proportional contracts continues to evolve in 20261.1, moving from 40% proportional contracts to 47% proportional contracts, reflecting the increased share of professional portfolios
Lines are usually allocated on a pro-rata basis.
Ageas Commenting on market conditions at the time of recent renewals, Re said: “After three years of above-average returns and a lack of capital returned to shareholders across the industry, the reinsurance market now maintains historically high levels of capital, while the ILS market has raised capital rapidly. This has created an environment where supply is clearly outstripping demand growth, particularly across ‘commodity lines’ (e.g. CAT Insurance). As a result, price softening accelerated between September and December, resulting in double-digit rate declines across many business segments. Airline supply was higher than expected as operators looked for profitable ways to deploy/allocate their capital, and on the positive side both structure and retention rates remained broadly healthy in line with hard market conditions.”
