Allianz has entered a strategic partnership with Oaktree Capital Management to create a new reinsurance vehicle at Lloyd’s that will support its global outwards reinsurance program.
The new entity, Syndicate 1890, is scheduled to begin underwriting on Jan. 1, 2026, as a multi-year participant in Allianz’s reinsurance placements.
Under the arrangement, Oaktree will establish and fund Syndicate 1890 and act as investment manager for the syndicate’s assets. In turn, the syndicate will receive a share of the Allianz Group’s outwards reinsurance programs, giving it exposure to a broad, diversified global portfolio.
Allianz said the partnership allows it to secure multi-year, AA-rated capacity while tapping capital markets’ interest in insurance risk via the Lloyd’s platform. The Lloyd’s structure is intended to provide operational efficiencies, access to third-party capital and flexibility for potential expansion of the syndicate’s role over time.
Thorsten Fromhold (pictured above), chief group reinsurance officer at Allianz SE Reinsurance, said the group’s underwriting profile supports this type of long-term structure.
Fromhold said the multi-year agreement with Oaktree is intended to complement, rather than replace, Allianz’s existing panel of traditional reinsurers. He noted that using the Lloyd’s platform allows Allianz “to pursue tailored and innovative transactions that enhance these partnerships.”
Oaktree, which has invested in insurance-related assets across multiple strategies, will use the structure to align capital, investment management and reinsurance risk. “We are excited to launch this innovative reinsurance syndicate together with Allianz, and within the Lloyd’s ecosystem,” said Chris Boehringer, managing director at Oaktree.
Lloyd’s is positioning the new syndicate as another example of how its market connects institutional capital with insurance risk.
The launch of Syndicate 1890 comes as Lloyd’s has seen a wave of reinsurance-focused growth, with several newer platforms scaling quickly. Oak Reinsurance, for example, recently gained approval to lift its 2025 gross written premium forecast for Syndicate 2843 to more than $400 million after stronger-than-expected early take-up.
Lloyd’s has also cleared Ariel Re’s Syndicate 2006 to write its 2026 reinsurance book, structured as a diversified platform across specialty and property lines. Ariel Re plans to build that portfolio around existing strengths in marine, energy, cyber, transition and renewables, with property catastrophe and risk business added to create a broader international spread.
Syndicate 2006 is expected to write about £150 million in premium across key lines, providing a reference point for the scale newer reinsurance syndicates are targeting at Lloyd’s.
