Page 38 - March 2022 Issue 604 Part 2

P. 38

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Ramon Martinez Carrera (CEO – Active Re):

2022 is very important for us and we study any market based
on our own inquiries and risk-based management approach

Active Capital Reinsurance, Ltd. (Active Re) started operations in 2007, providing ban-
cassurance and affinity type reinsurance solutions to financial institutions in Latin
America, and it has a general insurance and reinsurance license issued in Barbados. The
company initially specialized in reinsurance products for financial institutions, namely cred-
it life, group life, personal accidents, and surety & bonds, among others. With a Financial
Strength Rating of A- (Excellent), Active Re’s business profile continues to evolve, as it now
writes a broader and diversified portfolio of coverages over more than 100 countries, and
not only in specialty but also traditional lines of business. Al Bayan Magazine met Ramon
Martinez Carrera, CEO of Active Re, and conducted the following interview.

* What will be your strategy for 2022? looking forward to establishing a corporate

- Active Re in 2022 will be celebrating its 15th presence in the region and to building up a

anniversary. We started operating in 2007, strong business network here.

focusing on Latin American bancassurance and * In your opinion, how will the war between energy, infrastructure, political risk, aviation, credit,
group life risks, so starting from these lines of Russia and Ukraine affect the insurance and marine cargo, and cyber risk, among others. We
business and regional scope, under the guid- reinsurance markets overall? are following the events very closely in order to
ance of our founder and Executive Chairman, - The entire world suffered from the Covid-19 prepare ourselves and assist our clients.
Mr. Juan Antonio Nino Pulgar, we have man- pandemic, and the recovery is still on its way
aged to significantly expand and diversify our with marked differences between countries and Prior to the conflict, the headwinds from the hard-
book of business during all this time, particular- industries. We in Active Re managed to face it ening market were still present across almost all
ly since 2015. keeping our results positive, because of our diver- the lines of business, so now we must look at the
sification strategy. We pay a lot of attention to new scenario under the new disruptive events.
In terms of line of business, our company diversification geographically and in terms of line
expanded in an important way from a special- of business. We also focus on exposure control to
ized focus on bancassurance to become a gen- optimize volatility and risk capital allocation. That
eral specialty reinsurer, including lines of busi- is why we could absorb the impact of Covid, main-
ness such as Property & Engineering, Energy, taining the support to our cedants.
Surety & Bonds, Credit, Marine Cargo,
Financial Lines, and Alternative Risk Transfer Regarding the war between Russia and

(ART) solutions. Nevertheless, bancassurance Ukraine, it will have for sure a severe impact on * What are the main points that you rely on
in Latin America is still our core business, where the global economic outlook, the insurance and when you decide to integrate a certain market?
we are a quoting market and a reinsurer of reinsurance industry, and the geopolitical land- - We always follow the same methodology: we
choice for many ceding companies. More scape as well. The immediate effects are supply study the market based on our own inquiries
recently we are very dynamic as a quoting mar- disruptions, high inflation, slower economic and risk-based management approach, and we
ket for Credit, and Surety & Bonds. In terms of growth, financial market volatility, and risk rely not only on our professional team but also
types of contracts, the previously mentioned uncertainty. In our industry, the balance of risks in close cooperation with our strategic partners.
expansion has promoted a fast-gaining pace of is under pressure, as the vast majority of inter-
the treaty business in all lines and markets. national reinsurers and brokers are withdrawing We are permanently improving our strategy,
Since 2014 Active Re has been rated by AM Best from their business in Russia and Belarus, and business model, and practical implementation, fol-
with a stable outlook, and since 2018 our rating supporting the sanctions imposed on them. lowing what we are identifying as Active Re’s
became A- (Excellent) with stable outlook, and More sanctions are expected to come in the Ecosystem, which compounds: capacities, under-
since last year our outlook has improved to positive, coming days and so are retaliatory responses writing expertise, and high-quality service globally
so we are at the edge of an upgrading in our rating. from Russia. delivered. These three building blocks are support-
ed by our dedicated team following four major func-
We deliver services and capacities with high Active Re does not have too much exposure direct- tional pillars: (a) strategic business development;
standards to 400 ceding companies, in more ly to the markets and countries involved in the war, (b) governance and compliance; (c) operational
than one hundred markets worldwide, through but we are analyzing the scenarios with a wider set-up, procedures, quality control and reporting:
more than one hundred brokers. During the 15 and longer-term scope. During the next coming and (d) partners support, marketing and business
years of Active Re’s history, we have written months, we shall see difficulties in markets writing plan control.
premium over $1.2 billion; our share capi-
tal has increased at a compounded annu- Active Re has constantly invested in pro-
al growth rate of 60%, with robust efficien- fessional talent, digitalization, modern IT
cy and profitability, based on innovative platform, and tailor-made software solu-
tools, high-level professional talent, and tions. Our management and professional
sound operational performance. team is composed of over fifty profession-
als, based in nine locations, and fluently

Therefore 2022 is a very important year for speaking eight languages (including

Active Re’s growth and diversification Arabic), so we are always close to our

strategic development, and the Middle clients and business partners. We believe

East is a particularly important region for that there are real opportunities to

our business projections. The MENA enhance Active Re’s presence in the

region represents about 35 percent of our Middle East, therefore we are very enthu-

book of business. We focus on MENA as a siastic and determined to soonest under-
steadily growing region, so we are working FROM LEFT: JOHN KOTRAN, RAMON MARTINEZ CARRERA, go the necessary investment and legal

with many brokers and ceding companies, RANA NASR & LUIS ANTONIO IBANEZ steps to materialize said presence.

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