Balance Re (Cologne), a life reinsurance start-up specializing in quantitative asset-liability management, today announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding from financial services investor Anthemis Group (London), with participation from Global Brain (Tokyo) and the company’s existing investors, Roland Berger Industries GmbH (Munich) and Talabot Finance (London).
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Balance Re offers reinsurance solutions to life insurance companies and pension funds to support capital management related to their retirement and saving products. Balance Re reports that the Series A investment will be used to further develop its proprietary asset-liability management technology and to support its fully licensed German reinsurance company based in Cologne.
Technology-First, Data Driven
Balance Re’s notes that in launch market—Germany—Solvency II’s transitional measures represent on average about 150 percentage points of life insurers’ solvency capital ratios. Balance Re says its technology-first and data-driven approach to reinsurance instead enables its clients to release capital to fund growth, support product repositioning and improve (or regain) a competitive advantage. Balance Re adds that, thanks to real-time risk management capabilities, it is the first reinsurer able to offer to its clients easy-to-implement and cost-efficient reinsurance solutions which transfer the challenging interactions of financial and insurance risks.
Balance Re’s new shareholders, Anthemis and Global Brain, bring in-depth knowledge of the insurance sector and expertise in technologies dedicated to the financial industry, ideally complementing the experience of Balance Re’s initial investors rooted in investment management and corporate strategy, the company’s statement on the funding round says.
“We are delighted to welcome Anthemis and Global Brain in the capital of Balance Re and at the Board,” says a written statement from Balance Re founders Lucian Rautu and Michel Gauer. “Their deep industry knowledge and capacity to take an ‘outside-the-box’ approach to venture investments in the insurance space make them the perfect partners to disrupt the life reinsurance market.”
Balance Re’s team and its technology reflect the complex interactions between actuarial, financial, accounting and regulatory matters, according to Matthew Jones, Managing Director, Anthemis. “Balance Re’s coverage is designed to help clients reach their strategic goals while also keeping the interests of their policyholders in mind. We’re excited to see them drive much-needed change in the life reinsurance sector.”
Realizing Global Vision
“We believe that the technology developed by the Balance Re team has far reaching applications beyond life reinsurance and Europe,” comments Naoki Kamimaeda, Partner, Global Brain. “We are enthusiastic to join them at this important stage of the journey and look forward to helping them realize their vision to improve the management of long-term insurance and pension liabilities globally.”
Source: Insurance Innovation Reporter
