SI Re grew premium volume 10% and expanded client base at Jan 1 renewals

Zug, Switzerland-domiciled reinsurer SIGNAL IDUNA Reinsurance Ltd (SI Re) strengthened its market position at the key January 1st, 2025, reinsurance renewals, growing its premium volume by around 10% year-on-year to €225 million, while further expanding its clients base with the addition of 9% in new clients.

SI Re describes the 1.1 2025 reinsurance renewals as orderly despite a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, and another year of elevated catastrophe losses.

Investor confidence rebounded, says the firm, as the retrocession market “reopened” amid the strong performance of the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market.

“This recovery in risk capacity contributed to moderate price adjustments during this year’s renewals, albeit under disciplined conditions. Thus, the tightening of the original markets has brought the disciplining of the insurance value chain, which started in 2022 with the dislocation of the retrocession market, to full circle,” says the reinsurer.

SI Re states that it was able to lift its premium volume from the €205 million last year as it took advantage of its relationships with clients, carefully cultivated business opportunities, and also its recent Fitch ratings upgrade to “A”.

As such, new business contributed a premium volume of about 20% to the business written in the January renewals.

The company reveals that a significant part of its existing book underwent restructuring at 1.1 2025, as the share of non-proportional business increased by 3 percentage points to 34% of the total book. At the same time, sizeable new business was written in the UK, where SI Re only started underwriting in 2023.

At the Jan renewals, SI Re further scaled back quota share programmes and in turn grew the size of its non-proportional book. Overall, the reinsurer wrote 6% less property business, a decline that was more than offset by the addition of new diversifying business. Additionally, the company further reduced exposure to natural catastrophe risk by resorting to higher layers and deploying more capacity to long-tail lines.

Geographically, as well as the aforementioned growth in the UK, SI Re also broadened its relationships with clients in Germany, France, and Central and Eastern Europe, where it provided relevant capacity without stretching its catastrophe exposure limits. Simultaneously, SI Re diversified its portfolio through additional lines and risks with existing cedants.

Bertrand R. Wollner, Chief Executive Officer of SI Re, commented, “SI Re accomplished yet another highly successful renewal. SI Re’s prudent underwriting over the years enabled us to expand our portfolio during this hard market maintaining our focus on sustainable and long-term partnerships while not compromising on underwriting discipline.

“Thus, SI Re was able to further solidify its profitable book of business and its standing in the market. Also, the disciplining of the insurance value chain, which commenced in the retro-market in 2022 has reached the original markets, resulting in tighter terms and conditions and higher rates throughout the risk-transfer chain.”

Robert Salzmann, Chief Underwriting Officer of SI Re, added, “Recognising our disciplined expansion in previous years, Fitch Ratings upgraded SI Re to ‘A’ stable last August. This milestone facilitated access to new business and clients who were previously less familiar with our longstanding mutual setup. This supports the growth of our book in markets and segments with an attractive return profile while further diversifying our existing book.

“In addition, we continued to reduce volatility in our book of business by carefully adjusting our exposure to control accumulations. Furthermore, through our complementary structured ILS portfolio we enable global diversification while our assumed reinsurance business remains focused on Europe.”

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