By Chris Munro

March 5 - (The Insurer) - RenaissanceRe has launched a new Ireland domiciled property catastrophe bond fund that is backed by $340 million of total capital from European and global investors and the Bermudian reinsurer itself.

Called RenaissanceRe Medici UCITS Fund, the new offering is a sub-fund of RenaissanceRe Medici ICAV.

RenRe said the new platform has been built to provide investors from around the world access to its catastrophe bond investment strategy via a dedicated European-regulated undertaking for collective investment in transferable securities, or UCITS, structure.

Medici UCTIS will complement RenRe’s existing cat bond fund RenaissanceRe Medici Fund Ltd.

According to the reinsurer, both Medici UCITS and Medici share substantially similar investment guidelines and risk appetites.

“The launch of Medici UCITS reflects the continuing global growth and diversification of RenaissanceRe, furthering our mission to match desirable risk with owned and partner capital,” said Ross Curtis, RenRe executive vice president and chief portfolio officer.

“We are proud to bring a new fund to our third-party investors while providing needed protection to our clients,” Curtis added.

RenRe’s capital partners team will serve as Medici UCTIS’ investment manager.

Medici UCITS, which is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, has launched with $340 million in total capital.

That $340 million is made up of a combination of what the reinsurer said is primarily existing partner capital, along with support from new backers and a $140 million co-investment from RenRe.

Kevin O’Donnell-led RenRe said Medici UCITS will generate fee income, and the reinsurer’s co-investment will be reflected in its consolidated financial statements at fair value.

Medici UCITS will not be consolidated into RenRe's financial results.

“At RenaissanceRe, we pride ourselves on our 25-year track record of managing third-party capital and the trusted relationships we have built with our investors over this time,” said Christopher Parry, RenRe senior vice president and global head of capital partners.

“Medici UCITS, the latest in our full suite of offerings, provides our European partners with expanded access to the attractive catastrophe bond market in a structure that meets their needs.

“We look forward to bringing the same risk expertise and proprietary tools of our Medici portfolio management team to investors in this fund,” said Parry.

RenRe runs five other third-party capital funds alongside Medici: DaVinci, Fontana, Top Layer, Upsilon and Vermeer.

As the company reported in its recent Q4 and FY 2024 earnings, RenRe raised third-party capital of $857.4 million last year, primarily through DaVinci ($300.0 million), Medici ($199.6 million), Fontana ($100.0 million) and Vermeer ($175.0 million).

It returned $1.4 billion of third-party capital in 2024, which included $396.9 million of distributions from DaVinci, Vermeer, Medici and Top Layer after the vehicles generated strong earnings.

RenRe also returned $332.9 million from the Upsilon Diversified fund owing to a release of collateral associated with prior years’ contracts.

According to the reinsurer, from 1 January 2025 it raised a further $237.8 million of third-party capital in DaVinciRe, Medici and Fontana, and returned third-party capital of $99.0 million in DaVinciRe and Fontana.