U.S. Life Insurers’ Bermuda Reinsurance Exposure
The U.S. Life Insurance Industry has long utilized foreign reinsurance as part of its risk and capital management strategies. In recent years the use of foreign reinsurance (particularly via Bermuda reinsurers) has become increasingly common among life insurers (especially for those issuing individual annuities), which has raised some questions among industry participants. As seen in the table below, Bermuda was by far the largest non-U.S. reinsurance destination for U.S. life insurers and accounted for just over a third of total ceded life insurance and annuity (L&A) reserves1 at year-end 2023.