The Lifson Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar structure is set to be even more valuable in 2025 to owner W.R.Berkley Corporation, the US headquartered insurance holding company, as the Lifson Re sidecar has been capitalised to a higher level for this year, while the quota share cession rate has also been increased.A year ago, W.

R.Berkley kept its reinsurance sidecar capital support from Lifson Re flat, as the structure was capitalised to the tune of $380 million for 2024, the same level as seen for 2023 as well.But now, the company has capitalised the Lifson Re P&C sidecar vehicle with $418 million of equity for 2025, a 10% increase and the largest capital raise for the Lifson Re sidecar since .

.The Lifson Re sidecar was then renewed for 2022 with the same $250 million of capital, before being for the 2023 underwriting year and then renewed again at the same $380 million for 2024.The reinsurance sidecar structure has become increasingly important over-time for W.

R.Berkley, as the company has steadily ceded more premium to it, leaning on the third-party capital and insurance-linked securities (ILS) infrastructure to help it grow its business and moderate its exposure to losses as well.With now $418 million of capital for the Lifson Re sidecar for 2025, raised from a small group of institutional investors with long-term investment horizons and a minority participation from W.

R.Berkley itself, the structure stands to become even more important for the company.It’s not just the increased capitalisation though, W.

R.Berkley has also increased the quota share cession percentage rate that is effective for Lifson Re.When the company launched Lifson Re, the sidecar participated in the majority of W.

R.Berkley’s reinsurance placements and could take up to a 22.5% share of the total amount placed in any and all P&C reinsurance or retrocession placements, as long as more than one open market reinsurer is participating as a counterparty to W.R.

Berkley.That cession rate percentage, for the quota share the sidecar enters into with its parent, was lifted to 30% as from July 1st 2022 and had remained at that level ever since, until this January 1 2025 update to a 32.5% participation rate.Which means the Lifson Re sidecar can take greater shares of the business best suited to the capital backing it, while also becoming more meaningful for W.

R.Berkley in certain situations.For full-year 2024, W.

R.Berkley ceded $417 million of premiums to its Lifson Re sidecar, a slight decline on the $437 million ceded to it in 2023.Lifson Re remains the most important reinsurance counterparty to W.

R.Berkley as of the end of 2024, with over $416.5 million reported due from the vehicle.As we’d reported, the volume of premiums W.

R.Berkley ceded to its Lifson Re collateralized reinsurance sidecar shrank during the first-half of 2024, but had , and now presumably in the fourth as well.The collateralized reinsurance sidecar remains a key component of the W.

R.Berkley platform, which the increased capitalisation and higher cession rates for 2025 also serve to demonstrate.Find details of numerous reinsurance sidecar investments and transactions in our directory of ..

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