Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

Ryan Specialty, Nationwide form Bermuda-based reinsurer

Posted On: May. 7, 2019 10:21 AM CST

reinsurance

Ryan Specialty Group LLC and Columbus, Ohio-based insurer Nationwide on Tuesday said they have set up a new Bermuda-based reinsurance company Geneva Re Ltd. led by longtime industry executive Michael D. O’Halleran.

Nationwide will own 50% of the venture and Ryan Specialty Group-related investors will hold the remaining 50%, Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group said in a statement.

The new reinsurer will start underwriting business July 1, 2019, subject to approval of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, according to the statement.

Mr. O’Halleran, who retired as executive chairman of Aon Benfield in 2017 after 37 years with the reinsurance broker, will serve as executive chairman of Geneva Re, the statement said.

Ryan Specialty Group’s reinsurance managing general underwriter Ryan Re, led by president Brian M. Boornazian, will act as the exclusive underwriting manager for Geneva Re, the statement said.

Mr. Boornazian joined Ryan Re in 2018 after leaving Aspen Re, the reinsurance unit of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., where he was chairman of the reinsurance segment and CEO of Aspen Re, Americas.

Geneva Re will immediately have the financial strength to accept a diversified portfolio of reinsurance business from Ryan Specialty Group underwriting programs, the company said in the statement.

Nationwide will also appoint Ryan Re as its exclusive underwriting manager for third-party property/casualty treaty reinsurance business flowing through Geneva Re, the statement said.

The joint venture to form Ryan Re comes as Ryan Specialty Group and Nationwide said they have entered a strategic partnership to provide both companies an opportunity to grow in the specialty lines market, the company said in the statement.

Ryan Specialty Group and its operating companies “look forward to expanding the already successful relationship we have enjoyed with the Nationwide companies since our inception in 2010, and further enhancing this partnership with Geneva Re and Ryan Re,” Patrick G. Ryan, founder, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Ryan Specialty Group, said in the statement.