Nick Hankin, Managing Director at QBE Re, said the firm is increasingly focused on building long-term, meaningful relationships with a smaller number of key partners, rather than expanding broadly across the market, which can mean being selective about where it deploys capacity.
In an interview with Reinsurance News, Hankin discussed where he sees the most attractive opportunities for QBE Re to grow, explaining that the firm’s strategy is focused on building relationships that develop over time.
“We have made good progress in becoming relevant to a core group of global and key clients, and over time that creates opportunities to grow alongside them across products and geographies,” he said.
Hankin emphasised that the success of these partnerships comes down to consistency and predictability.
He explained, “We want to understand our clients properly – where they are growing, how their portfolios are developing, and how their reinsurance needs are evolving – so that we can support them over the long term.
“Long-term partnership only works if clients have a clear sense of how you are likely to behave through the cycle. What we’re seeing now is a greater expectation that reinsurers show up consistently across products and over multiple years, rather than participating more selectively. The aim is to build relationships that develop over time, rather than treating each renewal in isolation.”
Alongside opportunities in long-term partnerships, QBE Re is continuing to pursue sustainable growth in targeted areas.
“We have grown the business materially in North America, and we continue to see further opportunities there. We also see scope to grow in Asia, as well as in areas such as Credit, Structured Reinsurance, and Specialty lines,” said Hankin.
He also discussed the firm’s approach to growth within Casualty, noting that it is an area where you have to be very deliberate about how you grow.
“Our role is to help clients achieve their ambitions, but that only works if we’re creating sustainable outcomes for both sides over the long term. For us, that starts with understanding the underlying business, being clear about the risks we’re taking on, and how those exposures fit within the wider portfolio,” Hankin explained.
He stressed that while QBE Re wants to grow, maintaining discipline remains central to the firm’s approach.
Hankin noted, “We still want to grow, but only where the underlying economics are sound and align to our client strategy. That means understanding each deal clearly – the pricing, the structure, and the underlying risk – and being confident it will perform through the cycle.
“There are still plenty of opportunities in the market, but our focus is on deciding where the economics genuinely make sense for us. We are not making short-term decisions based on where rates are at any given point.”
Hankin emphasised that consistency and discipline will define success, saying that the real challenge of any strategy is whether it holds up as market conditions change, not just when conditions are favourable.
He said, “The reinsurers that perform through the cycle tend to be the ones with a clear understanding of their portfolios: their client mix, the products they want to be in, and how they deploy capital against that.
“And the reality is that even in strong years, parts of the portfolio will underperform. That’s inevitable. The question is whether the overall portfolio delivers the right outcome over time. That’s why discipline across the portfolio matters as the market evolves.”
He added, “Where reinsurers can get it wrong is chasing short-term opportunities without fully understanding how those decisions affect the overall portfolio.”
Hankin also spoke on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI), saying its most immediate benefit is around pace and efficiency.
He noted, “We’re starting to use AI to process unstructured data and to give our teams better tools around management information (MI) and portfolio interaction.
“Over time, the bigger opportunity is in better insights and supporting decision-making, but that depends on linking it back to the objectives of the business and getting the fundamentals right first.”
In addition, Hankin noted that alternative capital is an important part of how QBE Re manages the business.
He explained, “We need to be able to support clients through different market conditions, and that means using a range of tools, including retrocession, sidecars, and third-party capital, to manage our exposure and maintain capacity.
“The casualty sidecar, George Street Re, is a good example of that. It is a fully collateralised quota share arrangement that brings in over $550 million of third-party capital from institutional investors to support a portion of our global casualty reinsurance portfolio.”
More broadly, Hankin said the aim is to provide capacity in a way that works for both the firm and its clients over the long term.
Ultimately, Hankin emphasised that QBE Re values being consistent, dependable, and relevant for its clients. Looking ahead, the firm aims to continue growing, including doubling the reinsurance book over the next five years to around $6 billion of gross written premium.
“The ambition to build towards a $6 billion reinsurance business is important, but how we get there matters just as much. The aim is to build something that is balanced, resilient, and genuinely useful to the clients we work with over time,” he concluded.
