Ageas Re grows book 20% at 1.1 despite softening market

Jan 28 - (The Insurer) - Ageas Re, the third-party reinsurance arm of Belgian insurance group Ageas, continued to grow its book of business at the recent 1 January renewals with its portfolio expanding by €34mn ($35.5mn) despite the backdrop of a softening market.

• Ageas Re posts 29% organic growth at 1.1 2025

• Third-party reinsurance unit underwrote GWP of €145mn at renewal

• Cites “unexpected pace of rate softening” toward end of cycle

• Pronounced growth in non-cat property, agriculture and FL

• Margins stable despite risk-adjusted rate change of -2.7%

The reinsurer – which began writing third-party property cat reinsurance at 1 January 2023 – wrote gross premiums of €145mn across property, casualty and specialty lines at 1.1, up almost 20 percent year on year and representing organic growth of 29 percent.

This marks the carrier’s third year of substantial growth, with Ageas Re having written circa €121mn in reinsurance premium at 1 January 2024, up more than fourfold from the €29mn in its debut year.

In its annual renewal highlights report, Ageas Re noted that €113mn of premium was up for renewal at 1.1 2025. Approximately €3mn of premium was cancelled due to pricing deterioration or restructuring with a further €34mn of profitable new business secured.

“Ageas Re had slightly more capacity available but decided not to deploy it, reflecting its commitment to strict bottom-line focus and underwriting discipline,” said the reinsurer.

Overall, Ageas Re observed a price reduction in its renewed portfolio of 2.7 percent, along with a mechanical decrease of 8.3 percent due to a change in exposure on some large accounts. However, the carrier noted that the decreases “were more than compensated” by the strong commercial momentum, resulting in increased shares and volume of +11.6 percent.

Including the in-force book from business underwritten last year – including business written at the April, June and July renewals – Ageas Re had €174mn of in-force business as at 1.1 2025.

Combined with the third-party business accepted from joint ventures, the total third-party production at 1.1 2025 stood at €215mn, bringing the total third-party in-force book to €252mn.

Backdrop of a softening market

This growth came against a backdrop of noticeable market softening, said Ageas Re, with the reinsurer noting that it was able to largely preserve portfolio profitability achieved at the historically high levels of 2024.

“The unexpected pace of rate softening towards the end of the renewal period prompted Ageas Re to actively manage for a softening cycle, to maintain strong expected capital returns and anticipated profits,” it said.

The carrier noted that reinsurers experienced a “highly successful and profitable” 2023, which was followed by continued strong profitability levels in 2024 thanks to a significant improvement price levels at renewal, as well as the restructuring of programs, which included higher retention levels across geographies.

However, Ageas Re noted that in the run-up to 1.1.2025 retained earnings, reduced retro costs and sustained high ILS issuance contributed to rising capital levels, thereby boosting supply in an adequately priced market.

“On the demand side, inflation redressed during the year, and the overall exposure and demand growth did not sufficiently outpace supply growth,” it continued. “These factors collectively resulted in a renewal landscape that initially (October) showed moderate softening, which then accelerated in November and late December.”

Specialty and non-cat property growth

As first revealed by The Insurer in September last year, Ageas Re doubled its maximum line size in property cat to €25mn at renewal, with the ambitious carrier also entering financial lines following a successful expansion into casualty earlier last year.

Ageas Re noted in its renewals report that it was able to maintain the “healthy balance” between property and casualty achieved in 2024 during the 2025 renewals.

In anticipation of a softening property cat market, Ageas Re said it accelerated its strategy to develop underwriting, pricing and tooling for specialty lines during 2024, adding agriculture and credit and bond to its offering.

It noted that property faced “challenging” market conditions, particularly in the catastrophe space. As a result, some contracts were not renewed. However, the team achieved growth in the non-cat segment by more than 100 percent.

Ageas Re also grew its specialty book in line with the business plan from €5.5mn in premiums in 2024 to €22.7mn. While Ageas Re is mainly a non-proportional writer in its P&C segment, the specialty portfolio also include pro-rata (proportional) acceptances for the first time at renewal.

Ageas Re – which has grown to a team of more than 35 since launch – recently posted an operating profit of €67mn for the first six months of 2024, which helped to drive a group-level earnings and profit beat for parent Ageas.

The unit was launched in early September 2022, and formally began underwriting third-party treaty from 1 January 2023. It has initially focused on underwriting property reinsurance in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.