Active Capital Reinsurance posted an 88.4% combined ratio and 16.1% return on equity in 2025 - results that carry specific analytical weight given the market conditions they were produced in. Global reinsurance rates fell between 10% and 20% at the January 2026 renewal period, and AM Best revised its outlook for the global non-life reinsurance segment to stable from positive in January 2026. Maintaining underwriting profitability when rates are falling at that pace requires either retaining only the best-priced business or actively reducing exposure in softening lines - and the company's own characterisation of its 2025 approach points to the former. Chief executive Ramón Martínez Carrera said Active Re made demanding decisions throughout the year, prioritising technically sound business and long-term relationships. "In a market that continues to reward discipline, Active Re demonstrated that portfolio quality, capital strength, and technical consistency are the foundation of sustainable growth," he said.
The full-year results: a technical result of US$26.7 million and total equity of US$108 million. For the third consecutive year, AM Best affirmed Active Re's financial strength rating of A Excellent and its long-term issuer credit rating of "a" Excellent, both with a stable outlook, citing balance sheet strength, operating performance and enterprise risk management.
Alongside the underwriting discipline story, Active Re moved from prototyping to practical deployment of artificial intelligence tools during 2025 at a pace that stands out among mid-sized reinsurers. The company said 50% of treaty technical accounts were processed with AI support by year-end - a first-year deployment rate that reflects a deliberate operational decision rather than a gradual pilot rollout. The programme is set to continue through 2026. Industry practitioners have increasingly framed AI in reinsurance as a tool for portfolio oversight and accumulation management rather than a wholesale replacement of underwriting judgment, and Active Re's deployment pace suggests it is treating the technology as a core operational capability rather than an exploratory one.
Active Re closed 2025 serving 628 cedants across 129 countries, backed by 83 professionals, 190 brokers and 15 delegated underwriting authorities. Treaty business remained the revenue driver, led by property and engineering, specialty lines, and credit and surety. The company reinforced its global retrocession programme and expanded its alternative risk transfer platform, broadening capacity for risk transfer and capital efficiency solutions. It also strengthened its regulatory presence in Argentina and advanced recognition as a foreign reinsurer across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
The combination of an 88.4% combined ratio in a softening market, a third consecutive AM Best A affirmation and a 50% first-year AI deployment rate gives Active Re's 2025 results their specific analytical content - disciplined underwriting and operational investment in a market environment that is testing both.
