Organization

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization

ORGANIZATION

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (“RenaissanceRe” or the “Company”) was formed under the laws of Bermuda on June 7, 1993. Together with its wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries and joint ventures, the Company provides property, casualty and specialty reinsurance and certain insurance solutions to its customers.

• On March 22, 2019, the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, RenaissanceRe Specialty Holdings (UK) Limited (“RenaissanceRe Specialty Holdings”), completed its previously announced purchase of all of the share capital of RenaissanceRe Europe AG (formerly known as Tokio Millennium Re AG) (“RenaissanceRe Europe”), RenaissanceRe (UK) Limited (formerly known as Tokio Millennium Re (UK) Limited) (“RenaissanceRe UK”), and their respective subsidiaries (collectively, “TMR”) pursuant to a Stock Purchase Agreement by and among the Company, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd. (“Tokio”) and, with respect to certain sections only, Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. entered into on October 30, 2018 (the “TMR Stock Purchase Agreement”) (the “TMR Stock Purchase”). TMR comprised the treaty reinsurance business of Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. The results of operations of TMR from March 22, 2019, through December 31, 2019, are reflected in the Company’s results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2019. Refer to “Note 3. Acquisition of Tokio Millennium Re” for additional information regarding the TMR Stock Purchase.

• Renaissance Reinsurance Ltd. (“Renaissance Reinsurance”), a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurance company, is the Company’s principal reinsurance subsidiary and provides property, casualty and specialty reinsurance coverages to insurers and reinsurers on a worldwide basis.

• Renaissance Reinsurance U.S. Inc. (“Renaissance Reinsurance U.S.”) is a reinsurance company domiciled in the state of Maryland that provides property, casualty and specialty reinsurance coverages to insurers and reinsurers, primarily in the Americas.

• RenaissanceRe Underwriting Managers U.S. LLC, a specialty reinsurance agency domiciled in the state of Connecticut, provides specialty treaty reinsurance solutions on both a quota share and excess of loss basis; and writes business on behalf of RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S. Ltd. (“RenaissanceRe Specialty U.S.”), a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer, which operates subject to U.S. federal income tax, and RenaissanceRe Syndicate 1458 (“Syndicate 1458”).

• Syndicate 1458 is the Company’s Lloyd’s syndicate. RenaissanceRe Corporate Capital (UK) Limited (“RenaissanceRe CCL”), a wholly owned subsidiary of RenaissanceRe, is Syndicate 1458’s sole corporate member. RenaissanceRe Syndicate Management Ltd. (“RSML”), a wholly owned subsidiary of RenaissanceRe, is the managing agent for Syndicate 1458.

• RenaissanceRe Europe, a Swiss-domiciled reinsurance company, which has branches in Australia, Bermuda, the U.K. and the U.S., provides property, casualty and specialty reinsurance coverages to insurers and reinsurers on a worldwide basis.

• RenaissanceRe UK, a U.K.-domiciled reinsurance company in run-off, provided property, casualty and specialty reinsurance coverages on a worldwide basis. RenaissanceRe UK was placed into run-off effective July 1, 2015, from which date all new and renewal business was written by the U.K. branch of RenaissanceRe Europe. On February 4, 2020, RenaissanceRe Specialty Holdings entered into an agreement to sell RenaissanceRe UK to an investment vehicle managed by AXA Liabilities Managers, an affiliate of AXA XL. The sale is expected to close in 2020 and is subject to regulatory approval.

• The Company also manages property, casualty and specialty reinsurance business written on behalf of joint ventures, which include Top Layer Reinsurance Ltd. (“Top Layer Re”), recorded under the equity method of accounting, and DaVinci Reinsurance Ltd. (“DaVinci”). Because the Company owns a noncontrolling equity interest in, but controls a majority of the outstanding voting power of DaVinci’s

parent, DaVinciRe Holdings Ltd. (“DaVinciRe”), the results of DaVinci and DaVinciRe are consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and all significant intercompany transactions have been eliminated. Redeemable noncontrolling interest - DaVinciRe represents the interests of external parties with respect to the net income and shareholders’ equity of DaVinciRe. Renaissance Underwriting Managers, Ltd. (“RUM”), a wholly owned subsidiary of RenaissanceRe, acts as exclusive underwriting manager for these joint ventures in return for fee-based income and profit participation.

• RenaissanceRe Medici Fund Ltd. (“Medici”) is an exempted fund, incorporated under the laws of Bermuda. Medici’s objective is to seek to invest substantially all of its assets in various insurance-based investment instruments that have returns primarily tied to property catastrophe risk. Third-party investors have subscribed for a portion of the participating, non-voting common shares of Medici. Because the Company owns a noncontrolling equity interest in, but controls a majority of the outstanding voting power of Medici, through its wholly-owned parent, RenaissanceRe Fund Holdings Ltd. (“Fund Holdings”), the results of Medici and Fund Holdings are consolidated in the Company’s consolidated financial statements and all significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated. Redeemable noncontrolling interest - Medici represents the interests of external parties with respect to the net income and shareholders’ equity of Medici.

• Upsilon RFO Re Ltd., formerly known as Upsilon Reinsurance II Ltd. (“Upsilon RFO”), a Bermuda domiciled special purpose insurer (“SPI”), is a managed joint venture formed by the Company principally to provide additional capacity to the worldwide aggregate and per-occurrence primary and retrocessional property catastrophe excess of loss market. Upsilon RFO is considered a variable interest entity (“VIE”) and the Company is considered the primary beneficiary. As a result, Upsilon RFO is consolidated by the Company and all significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated.

• RenaissanceRe Upsilon Fund Ltd. (“Upsilon Fund”), an exempted Bermuda segregated accounts company was formed by the Company to provide a fund structure through which third-party investors can invest in reinsurance risk managed by the Company. As a segregated accounts company, Upsilon Fund is permitted to establish segregated accounts to invest in and hold identified pools of assets and liabilities. Each pool of assets and liabilities in each segregated account is structured to be ring-fenced from any claims from the creditors of Upsilon Fund’s general account and from the creditors of other segregated accounts within Upsilon Fund. Third-party investors purchase redeemable, non-voting preference shares linked to specific segregated accounts of Upsilon Fund and own 100% of these shares. Upsilon Fund is an investment company and is considered a VIE. The Company is not considered the primary beneficiary of Upsilon Fund and, as a result, the Company does not consolidate the financial position and results of operations of Upsilon Fund.

• Effective December 17, 2018, the Company formed Vermeer Reinsurance Ltd. (“Vermeer”), an exempted Bermuda reinsurer, with PGGM, a Dutch pension fund manager. Vermeer provides capacity focused on risk remote layers in the U.S. property catastrophe market. Vermeer is managed by RUM in return for a management fee. The Company maintains a majority voting control of Vermeer, while PGGM retains economic benefits. Vermeer is considered a VIE, as it has voting rights that are not proportional to its participating rights and the Company is the primary beneficiary. As a result, the Company consolidates Vermeer and all significant inter-company transactions have been eliminated. The Company does not currently expect its voting or economic interest in Vermeer to fluctuate.

• Fibonacci Reinsurance Ltd. ("Fibonacci Re"), a Bermuda-domiciled SPI, was formed in 2016 to provide collateralized capacity to Renaissance Reinsurance and its affiliates. Fibonacci Re raises capital from third-party investors and the Company, via private placements of participating notes which are listed on the Bermuda Stock Exchange. Fibonacci Re is considered a VIE. The Company is not considered the primary beneficiary of Fibonacci Re and, as a result, the Company does not consolidate the financial position and results of operations of Fibonacci Re.

• Effective December 22, 2017, the Company and Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated closed an initiative (“Langhorne”) to source third-party capital to support reinsurers targeting large in-force life and annuity blocks. Langhorne Holdings LLC (“Langhorne Holdings”) is a company that owns and manages certain reinsurance entities within Langhorne. Langhorne Partners LLC (“Langhorne

Partners”) is the general partner for Langhorne and the entity which manages the third-parties investing in Langhorne Holdings. The Company concluded that Langhorne Holdings meets the definition of a VIE. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of Langhorne Holdings and as a result, the Company does not consolidate the financial position or results of operations of Langhorne Holdings. The Company concluded that Langhorne Partners is not a VIE. The Company will account for its investments in Langhorne Holdings and Langhorne Partners under the equity method of accounting, one quarter in arrears.

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In connection with the acquisition of TMR, the Company manages Shima Reinsurance Ltd. (“Shima Re”), Norwood Re Ltd. (“Norwood Re”) and Blizzard Re Ltd. (“Blizzard Re”) (together, the “TMR managed third-party capital vehicles”), which provide third-party investors with access to reinsurance risk formerly managed by TMR. Following the closing of the acquisition, the retrocessionaires providing reinsurance to TMR on certain TMR managed third-party capital vehicles’ legacy portfolios of in-force and expired contracts were replaced. The TMR managed third-party capital vehicles no longer write new business.