ITOCHU Launches Reinsurance Business

December 22, 2009

ITOCHU Corporation (hereinafter “ITOCHU”) has made an investment in Juniperus Capital Holding Limited (hereinafter “JC”), a reinsurance fund management company on December 17th, 2009. JC is a holding company founded in Bermuda in April 2008. Its subsidiaries include an asset management company and a reinsurance company. Aon Benfield, the world’s premier reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor, was a founding sponsor of JC.

JC’s strategy is to invest in insurance risk by utilizing traditional reinsurance contracts as well as capital market transactions on behalf of its fund investors. It has a management team consisting of professionals with extensive experience in the reinsurance and financial industries. The team has developed an innovative reinsurance business model and has achieved an outstanding track record since the company launched the fund. Despite the financial crisis since 2008, JC fund has maintained above average expected returns. JC provides a broad range of property catastrophe reinsurance coverages for potential large insured-loss payouts, which are made by insurance companies and the government when a large natural disaster (such as typhoon, earthquake, or tsunami) causes extensive damage to properties.

Insurance markets in Asia are growing with economic development and urbanization. Current global weather patterns are in a period of above average windstorm activity. Natural disasters are often now enormous in scale. Looking at medium- and long-term trends, reinsurance demand from governments, infrastructure companies, and insurance companies in Asia for large-scale disaster risks looks set to expand.

ITOCHU has decided to move into the reinsurance business, harnessing more than 30 years of experience and expertise in the brokerage business (as a Lloyd’s broker license holder) and businesses related to the financial market (including an asset management business and securities business). By bolstering both its relationship with Aon Benfield as well as its investment in JC’s reinsurance undertaking capability and financial product merchantability, ITOCHU is preparing to meet reinsurance needs for disaster risks as well as demand for new investment in financial markets, both of which are likely to be grow in the near future in Japan and other Asian countries.

(about reinsurance)

Reinsurance is a form of insurance for insurance companies. Ordinary reinsurance is purchased by an insurance company when the company concludes an agreement setting out the terms and conditions of the reinsurance with a reinsurance company, and then pays reinsurance premiums to transfer all or part of its insurance liability to the reinsurance company.

  1. About Juniperus
    Juniperus Capital Limited is an investment management company with a strategy of investing in insurance risk by utilizing the traditional reinsurance market as well as capital market transactions.
    CEO: Philip A Lotz
    Learn more at: http://www.juniperuscapital.com/[Open in a new window]
  2. About Aon Benfield
    Aon Benfield is the world industry leader of reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor with an international network of more than 4,000 professionals in 50 countries.
    CEO: Andrew M. Appel
    Learn more at: http://www.aon.com/reinsurance/default.jsp[Open in a new window]