Four Bermudian-based reinsurers have secured spots on AM Best’s latest list of the world’s top 10 reinsurance companies.

RenaissanceRe, Everest Re, Arch Capital and PartnerRe all made the top tier in the 2025 rankings by Reinsurance News, with RenRe leading the local pack at number five globally. The Pembroke-based reinsurer saw gross premiums written rise to $12.3 billion, thanks in part to its acquisition of Validus Re. Everest Re and Arch Capital, both headquartered in Hamilton, followed closely behind, posting $11.5 billion and $9.1 billion in gross premiums respectively. PartnerRe, also in Pembroke, matched Arch’s GPW with a 3.1 per cent year-on-year increase.

The rankings, released last week, mark the first year AM Best has split its list into two categories, reflecting the industry’s uneven adoption of a new accounting standard known as International Financial Reporting Standards 17. Many Bermudian-based reinsurers continue to report under US generally accepted accounting principles, meaning they were ranked based on GPW, not gross revenue.

“Unlike most of their European and Asian counterparts, many North American and Bermuda-domiciled reinsurers continued to use the US GAAP for their financial reporting,” Reinsurance News noted in its June 19 article.

In 2024, all four appeared in the pre-IFRS combined top-50 list, indicating strong representation. By 2025, they returned on the non-IFRS 17 top-10, but with higher GPW that moved them up the ranks (e.g., RenaissanceRe to #5 globally)

Their growth is partly due to pricing environment (“hard market”) and acquisitions, especially RenaissanceRe’s deal with Validus, according to AM Best.

While Swiss Re and Munich Re retained their top spots globally, Bermuda’s cluster remains a powerful force in property, casualty and speciality reinsurance, the report showed, especially in catastrophe-prone regions.