Reinsurance and insurance company RenaissanceRe has increased its share repurchase programme to $500 million.

The company said the authorisation includes remaining amounts available under previous allocations to buy back shares.

Under the scheme, RenaissanceRe can buy shares in the open market based on a number of factors, including ongoing capital requirements, expected cash flows and the market price of the share.

In addition the firm announced a quarterly dividend of 30 cents per share, to be paid to shareholders at the end of the year.