Bermuda is on pace to match its near-decade high of 80 insurer formations. The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has recorded 27 registrations through May, with life reinsurance vehicles continuing to dominate new filings.
This momentum built through the first quarter, when the BMA registered 20 new entities. Class E insurers and restricted special purpose insurers together accounted for nearly two-thirds of those formations. Capital markets structures and life reinsurance vehicles drove most of that activity.
The 2026 pace marks a step up from 2025, when Bermuda recorded 58 new insurer registrations for the full year. This total fell short of the 63 formations logged in 2024. The current trajectory suggests 2026 could close well above both figures.
The pattern has carried into May. Two of the three newest registrants classified as long-term carriers.
Prudential Bermuda ISA, Ltd. entered as a Class E entity, covering long-term insurers with total assets exceeding $500 million. Sompo Life Re Ltd. registered as a Class C carrier, which applies to long-term insurers with total assets below $250 million.
The third new entrant, Verdant Rock Ltd., is a Class 3B carrier. This classification covers large commercial insurers whose unrelated business accounts for 50% or more of net written premiums and net premiums written exceeding $50 million.
The company describes itself as an investment-grade credit origination platform focused on emerging markets, with data-driven underwriting at its core.
The BMA’s Insurance Assessment and Licensing Committee (IALC) reviewed five applications in May. Four were approved and one was deferred. Approved entities are registered after the IALC process concludes, so approvals and registrations may fall in different reporting periods.
Globe Life Inc. formed and licensed Globe Life Re Ltd. in Bermuda late last year to reinsure business written by affiliates within the group. The subsidiary will write affiliated quota share reinsurance, assuming a proportional share of risk on specified policies.
Globe Life said all arrangements will be conducted on an arm’s length basis and subject to appropriate oversight.
The formation has been in the works since mid-2025, when Globe Life filed an initial business plan with the BMA. The plan outlined its intent to assume a portion of both new and existing life insurance policies issued by affiliates.
Chief financial officer Thomas Kalmbach said the affiliate could ultimately reinsure up to 25% of the company’s life reserves. The entity is not expected to generate cash flows to the parent until 2027, but Kalmbach said it could eventually produce as much as $200 million in annual cash flow.
