Arch Capital Group Appoints Jerome Halgan CEO of Global Reinsurance and Michael Schmeiser CEO of Global Mortgage
Arch Capital Group Ltd., a leading provider of insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance globally, announced the promotions of Jerome Halgan to CEO of Arch Global Reinsurance Group and Michael Schmeiser to CEO of Arch Global Mortgage Group. Both will continue to report to Arch President Maamoun Rajeh.
“Jerome and Michael are experienced leaders who are deeply grounded in Arch’s underwriting culture and corporate values, and they have consistently outperformed through market cycles,” Rajeh said. “Through disciplined capital deployment and strong relationships, both have contributed meaningfully to the strength of our global platform. Their leadership will help us continue to activate Arch’s deep bench of talent, execute with consistency and position us to deliver long-term value for clients and shareholders.”
Halgan joined Arch in 2009. He has served as President and Chief Underwriting Officer of Arch Reinsurance Group since 2024, and as CEO of Arch Re Bermuda since 2018. Schmeiser joined Arch in 2017 and has served as President and CEO of Arch U.S. Mortgage since 2019.
“I am honored for this opportunity to continue building Arch’s global reinsurance platform side-by-side with some of the brightest minds in the industry,” Halgan said. “Our approach remains consistent: applying disciplined underwriting, managing the cycle carefully and deepening our relationships with brokers and cedants. That foundation allows us to deliver the insights and solutions our clients need and to grow the business over the long term.”
“I’m proud to step into this role leading the world’s foremost provider of mortgage credit risk solutions,” Schmeiser said. “Our diverse businesses are supported by analytical rigor, strong relationships and a depth of experience unmatched in the industry. I look forward to applying my knowledge of our U.S. operations to our other Global Mortgage businesses and collaborating more closely with our teams around the world.”
These appointments follow the recent expansion of Maamoun Rajeh’s role as President of Arch. Arch Insurance North America CEO Matt Shulman and Arch Insurance International CEO Hugh Sturgess will continue to report to Rajeh.
Global reinsurance capital, profits, and ROE on the rise in H1: Willis Re
Global reinsurers performed well in the first half of 2021, with a further expansion of their capital bases and strong headline underwriting results and ROEs. Underlying ROEs, while less strong, were nonetheless noticeably improved, according to the latest Reinsurance Market Report from Willis Re, the reinsurance business of leading global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson (NASDAQ: WLTW).
Total capital dedicated to the global reinsurance industry measured USD 688 billion after the first six months of 2021, reflecting a 4% increase from 31 December 2020.1 The rise was driven primarily by strong net income. To fuel organic growth in the positive rating environment, reinsurers typically retained more income than has been usual in recent years.
Reinsurers together achieved exceptionally strong premium growth of 15% during H1 2021. Their weighted average reported combined ratio was 94.1%, which closely matches the figures reported for the 2016 to 2019 half years. Despite abnormally heavy natural catastrophe activity so far this year, the ratio marks a dramatic improvement from the COVID-impacted 104.1% in H1 2020. Reported combined ratios also benefitted from slightly higher levels of reserve releases, reversing the trend of declining releases seen since 2017.
The reinsurers’ underlying half-year combined ratio, excluding prior year development, and normalising for natural catastrophe losses, has improved steadily since 2017. This continued in H1 2021, falling from 98.6% in H1 2020 to 98.4%. A lower expense ratio supported the improved combined ratios, as rapid premium growth more than offset rising costs.
The average ROE also rebounded strongly, assisted by improved investment returns. The reported ROE recovered from last year’s minus 0.7% to reach 13.9%, while the underlying ROE more than doubled to reach 6.3%. Nevertheless, the underlying ROE still remains below the industry’s cost of capital.
“Reinsurance providers will be heartened by these results. The industry has endured several years of below-par performance, capped by the calamitous experience of COVID-19. Now the remedial work reinsurers have undertaken over the past several years is bearing fruit.”James Kent | Global CEO, Willis Re
James Kent, Global CEO, Willis Re, said: “Reinsurance providers will be heartened by these results. The industry has endured several years of below-par performance, capped by the calamitous experience of COVID-19. Now the remedial work reinsurers have undertaken over the past several years is bearing fruit.
“Unfortunately, though, very strong premium growth in the first half of this year was achieved against combined ratios which are not much lower than during the softer parts of the cycle, therefore leaving underlying ROEs still languishing below the cost of capital.”
Download the full report: The Willis Re Reinsurance Market Report is a biannual publication providing in-depth analysis of the size and performance of the reinsurance market. Analysis is based on the Willis Reinsurance Index group of companies. In 2021 the Index includes 43 companies from across the globe.
Allianz replaces global reinsurance buyer Ahmed with run-off boss
Allianz Re, the unit of Allianz that manages the insurer’s reinsurance buying programme globally, has unveiled a reshuffle at the top.
Amer Ahmed, the CEO of Allianz Re since 2012, will step down to pursue new responsibilities outside the group. Ahmed was instrumental in the rationalisation of Allianz’s reinsurance buying programme, creating a global buying strategy that was more efficient for the group, but which limited the reinsurers it worked with to those with similar global footprint.
Ahmed will be replaced by Holger Tewes-Kampelmann, currently chief financial officer of Allianz Re and managing director Allianz Resolution Management, an entity within at Allianz Re that manages run-off operations. He will take the reins on May 1, 2021.
Tewes-Kampelmann joined Allianz’s group planning and controlling department in 2004. He was appointed CFO at Allianz Re in 2012, and became its managing director for Resolution Management in 2016.
Ahmed joined Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty in 2002 and moved to Allianz Re in 2007, serving since 2012 as its CEO. Under his leadership, Allianz Re became a strong profit contributor to the group.