Already in 2014 – in its second full business year – Peak Re started underwriting European non-life risk. The motivation to venture into Europe was driven by three factors: a) expanding into Europe brought immediate diversification benefits to Peak Re, with the obvious affects on our capital efficiency, b) due to its origin and capital base in Asia Pacific, Peak Re provides instant risk diversification to its European cedants, c) Peak Re’s relationship-driven approach with Asian clients resonates well with our European cedants, who are eager to invest in and build long-term, reliable partnerships with their reinsurers.
Ambitions for developing our European portfolio
In 2014, Peak Re built an initial book of business with roughly 20 European clients – of almost 200 on a global basis. Gross Written Premiums, which predominately originated from cedants in Germany, Switzerland, France and Portugal, amounted to 12.1% of our overall portfolio, underwriting treaty risks across the board. Based on our rising recognition and appreciation as a long-term oriented provider of multi-line solutions and as a reflection of our diversification strategy, we have continued growing our franchise steadily in 2015 – adding clients both in United Kingdom and Scandinavia as well as in the Americas. Furthermore, the acquisition of Portugal’s leading insurance group, Fidelidade, by our largest investor, Fosun, in January 2014 provided additional reinsurance opportunities to Peak Re and helped to enhance our presence in Europe even more. However, the bulk of premium growth, which we added since the January 2015 renewals was written with existing clients, who allocated larger shares to the company, demonstrating their faith and confidence in our future progress.
Due to our success in the past 18 months we decided to further expand our presence in Europe by opening up a representative office in Zurich, Switzerland in late 2015. For the kind of client segment, which Peak Re is targeting, Zurich has clearly established itself as the ideal centre for European, relationship-driven business. With more than 40 reinsurers based in Zurich, the Swiss hub provides access to strong reinsurance expertise, is located in close proximity to the largest Continental European reinsurance markets and offers a reliable and internationally recognized regulatory as well as a stable political environment.
To further grow its business in Europe and establish a physical presence here in Zurich, Peak Re has appointed Jacques Burri, a seasoned professional with more than 30 years of experience. Jacques will start in his new responsibility as of September 2015. Jacques joins us from Zurich Insurance Group, where he was Reinsurance Manager in charge of the group’s European as well as specialty reinsurance placements. Jacques will team up with Railovy Boyer, our new Director for Underwriting, who brings 15 years of reinsurance experience to the table, previously with PartnerRe in Paris.
