CCR Re renews 157 Re reinsurance sidecar for sixth year

French reinsurance company CCR Re has announced a sixth renewal of its long-standing collateralised and securitised reinsurance sidecar vehicle, 157 Re, giving away little in detail again, but saying that the retrocession market was seen as continuing to be “tight” this year.

For CCR Re, the 157 Re sidecar has become a critical component of its retrocessional reinsurance arrangements, allowing the reinsurer to align itself with third-party investors and benefit from their appetite to share in its underwriting returns.

The 2024 vintage of 157 Re, or 157 Re 24 as the reinsurer has termed it for this year, is the sixth renewal of the reinsurance sidecar for CCR Re.

Details of all the 157 Re sidecar issues can be found in our directory of reinsurance sidecar transactions.

Recall that 157 Re remains the first and only insurance-linked securities (ILS) vehicle to be governed under French law.

CCR Re first established the 157 Re sidecar arrangement for the 2019 underwriting year, structuring it as a mutual securitization fund, known as a “fonds commun de titrisation”, a vehicle often used for securitised arrangements in France.

The 157 Re reinsurance sidecar has since been renewed each January, growing in importance for CCR Re in recent years.

For 2022, CCR Re said that it had grown the 157 Re sidecar’s size by 22% and added a new investor.

Then, a year ago for 2023, CCR Re said it had grown its reinsurance sidecar again, by more than 40%, while adding another new investor.

For 2024, noting additional has been disclosed, with CCR Re simply saying that it took “full advantage of its 157 Re platform to consolidate its growth trajectory with the issue of its sixth sidecar vintage: 157 Re 24.”

Saying that access to the insurance-linked securities (ILS) market is “an important part of CCR Re’s retrocession strategy,” the reinsurer said that its 157 Re sidecar renewal “benefits from the renewed confidence of those involved in the previous vintage.”

Once again, investor Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP has backed CCR Re’s 157 Re sidecar again for 2024, now having been involved in all six vintages of the structure.

“This sixth generation is testimony of our commitment to an alignment of interest with those of our investors as part of a long-term partnership,” Mathieu Halm, Board Secretary and Chief Retrocession & Alternative Capital Officer commented.

Recently, Laurent Montador, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CCR Re told us in an interview that the 157 Re sidecar vehicle has become an important part of its property catastrophe play, and further expansion of the sidecar and its capabilities is expected in the future.

While there’s no mention of growth for 2024, it appears CCR Re has achieved a relatively stable renewal for its flagship reinsurance sidecar vehicle, continuing to place great importance on this partnership with third-party investors.

Gallagher Securities acted as the structuring and placement agent for the 157 Re sidecar renewal for 2024.

France Titrisation has acted as the management company, BNP Paribas Securities as the custodian bank and legal advice was provided by Linklaters, CCR Re said.

For details of many reinsurance sidecar investments and transactions over the history of the ILS market, view our comprehensive list of collateralized reinsurance sidecars transactions.