Oak Re, Mereo and Alpine Re among start-ups aiming for 2025 launch

Having received in-principle approval from Lloyd’s to launch at 1.1, Oak Reinsurance has joined Mereo and Alpine Re in the aspiration to begin underwriting in 2025 amid renewed investor interest in balance sheet vehicles.

Despite generational hard market conditions in property cat, improvements in some specialty lines, incrementally lower casualty cede commissions and a rehardening of the underlying business, the market has not yet seen an influx of new reinsurers – at least until now.

This has been attributed in part to investors falling out of love with the traditional capital-heavy reinsurer model that was at the centre of the various “Class of” groups of start-ups launching in the last three decades.

Instead, conventional wisdom suggests that investors would rather support underwriting vehicles that have greater fungibility of capital, such as sidecars that are able to get in and out of the market opportunistically, or distribution- and capital-light delegated authority businesses.

But the trio of companies currently looking to get off the starting grid indicate a shift in sentiment may be taking place, at least for the right management teams in a still attractive market environment.

As revealed by The Insurer on the eve of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, former RenaissanceRe Europe CUO Cathal Carr received the green light for a 2025 start-up syndicate that will be managed by third-party managing agency PoloWorks.

Oak Re – which is being advised by Evercore – is currently in talks with potential private equity investors, but is also understood to be considering third-party Lloyd’s capital providers, including individual investors or funds such as Helios.

The planned start-up is expected to write lines including property, specialty and cyber, and will operate as an insurer and reinsurer. It is assembling a senior management team including Alex Winfield, the former AlphaCat Managers and Willis Re executive, as chief risk officer.

Oak Re’s proposed Syndicate 2843 will not be the only new venture bringing balance sheet capacity to the reinsurance market.

This time last year, this publication revealed former Hannover Re CEO Willy Zeller and ex Axis Re CEO Steve Arora were in the process of fundraising for a new P&C reinsurer called Alpine Re.

According to sources, the challenging nature of the fundraising environment made a 2024 entry challenging, but the start-up is making material progress on its path towards a 2025 launch.

Alpine Re is continuing to work with Howden Capital Markets & Advisory and is expected to have a casualty and specialty reinsurance-focused strategy, operating out of Switzerland and Bermuda.

Sources said it is actively engaged with investors as it looks to raise funding of up to $1bn for its launch and has a wider management team lined up as well as being operationally very advanced.

The Insurer reported at Monte Carlo last year that Alpine Re was looking to build a lean operation with a low-cost model and an emphasis on disciplined underwriting as a “traditional” reinsurer.

Meanwhile Mereo secured a preliminary A- financial strength assessment and long-term issuer credit rating from AM Best in February 2024. The proposed start-up is also understood to have made significant traction in its fundraising and management build-out ahead of a 2025 launch.

Led by Brian Duperreault, it has reportedly secured support from PE firm Susquehanna as a major investor, and is aiming to capitalise at around $1bn ahead of a 1.1 targeted launch.

The vehicle was co-founded by managing partners Lawrence Minicone and Jason Miller. Former Execution Noble and Securis executive Neil Strong has been tipped for the president role, while David Croom-Johnson, the former Aegis London CEO, had been linked with the CEO position.

Other names linked with the venture include Richard Holden, formerly of Fidelis, and former Hamilton CFO and EY Bermuda insurance practice leader Jonathan Reiss.

The start-up is expected to have a third-party capital or ILS element to its platform, with a conservative investment strategy.

Capital is also being channelled into expansive Lloyd’s operations. The Insurer has recently reported on a number of sizeable 2025 pre-emptions, including at IPO candidate Canopius and follow-only syndicates such as those operated by Flux, Hampden Risk Partners and Nephila.

The ~$100bn ILS market also remains buoyant after 2023’s record issuance. The 144A property cat bond market set a new record for Q2 issuance this year, reaching nearly $8bn.