Talcott launches $1bn West Grove Re with Goldman Sachs

Talcott Financial Group today launched West Grove Re, a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurance sidecar formed with Goldman Sachs after closing a capital raise of about $1bn.

The vehicle will participate in a quota share of certain Talcott-sourced US annuities, sharing premiums and losses on part of that business. In practice, a quota share gives the reinsurer a pro-rata share of risk and a matching share of premium, subject to the treaty terms.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is set to manage West Grove Re’s private-asset strategies, while other third-party investment managers are expected to run the rest of the sidecar’s assets. That leaves Goldman’s role focused on the private-asset sleeve rather than the whole portfolio.

Talcott said it set up the sidecar to support accelerated growth across its insurance and reinsurance platform, with the structure designed to strengthen its capacity to deliver scalable, capital-efficient solutions across a range of liabilities. Talcott will also provide West Grove Re with support services covering actuarial, finance, compliance and risk.

According to the announcement, Sixth Street and Talcott’s open-architecture asset-management model and partnership approach enabled the launch.

Sources: talcott.com