Briefing

Willis Re completes BMS Re US deal, and RiverStone takes QBE reserves

Seven UK insurance stories to start the week, in five minutes.

Photo: Daniel Höhe / Unsplash

The Coverwire briefing · Monday 2 November 2026

Monday 2 November 2026

Willis Re completes BMS Re US deal

The reinsurance broker has closed its purchase of BMS Group's US reinsurance division, which brings a London-based broking team with it.

Correction, 2 November 2026: an earlier version of this briefing said hyperexponential now sits inside Guidewire. The acquisition has been agreed but has not completed; Guidewire expects it to close by 31 January 2027.

Today's stories

Willis Re completes BMS Re US deal, taking on a London broking team The deal adds property catastrophe, medical malpractice and workers' compensation expertise, and gives Willis Re an operational presence in the US under new chief executive Neil Eckert.

RiverStone completes legacy deals covering $1.6bn of QBE reserves The London-headquartered run-off specialist also struck its first insurance-linked securities deal, on portfolios tied to Leadenhall Capital Partners funds.

Binance says it will cover $6.3bn hot-wallet theft from its own funds About $3bn has been frozen on-chain. Crypto theft cover is a niche line written largely by specialists in the Lloyd's market and Bermuda.

Canada's biggest banks restrict personal AI agents such as Meta's Muse Royal Bank of Canada told staff such agents can create liability exposure. Meta's Muse can already pull insurance quotes through Insurify's agent gateway.

Guidewire agrees to buy London pricing firm hyperexponential for $1.7bn The deal was agreed on 27 October and Guidewire expects it to close by 31 January 2027. hx's platform has priced more than $75bn of annual premium.

Bank of England and FCA survey finds 93% of responding insurers use AI Insurers run a median of 18 AI systems in production. The regulators now have a baseline to test governance against.

Allianz X co-leads $200m round in AI specialty underwriter Ledgebrook Allianz Re has also signed a multi-year reinsurance deal with the US firm, which writes only through wholesale brokers and expects to pass $1bn of cumulative premium.

Number of the day

$1.6bn

of QBE reserves now with RiverStone, after the run-off specialist completed its loss portfolio transfer deals. Read the story

What to watch

13 November: comments close on Marrow's open AMI Standards for insurance sold through AI agents.

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Willis Re completes BMS Re US deal

The CoverWire briefing

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