Talcott Financial Group, a life insurance provider specialising in risk solutions, in partnership with Goldman Sachs, has established a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurance sidecar called West Grove Re, Ltd, which has closed an approximately $1 billion capital raise.
The sidecar will participate in a quota share of certain Talcott-sourced US annuities in a structure designed to further enhance the insurer’s ability to deliver scalable, capital-efficient solutions.
West Grove Re is enabled by Sixth Street and Talcott’s open architecture asset management model and partnership approach, and aims to support the accelerated growth of Talcott’s re/insurance platform.
The $1 billion capital raise includes equity commitments from Talcott, Goldman Sachs Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) and its clients, and a credit facility.
The sidecar stands to benefit from Talcott’s disciplined underwriting and risk management approach and deep insurance expertise, as it will provide the sidecar support services across a range of functions, including actuarial, finance, compliance, and risk.
Goldman Sachs AWM will serve as a strategic partner to West Grove Re by acting as investment manager for private asset strategies. Other third-party investment managers are expected to manage the remainder of West Grove Re’s assets.
Imran Siddiqui, Chief Executive Officer, Talcott, commented, “Establishing West Grove Re is another important step in Talcott’s growth strategy, broadening our access to liabilities with varied costs of capital, while staying true to the strength of our platform as we continue to scale. Partnering with Goldman Sachs further validates the business we have been building since Sixth Street’s acquisition in 2021.
“By pairing our deep insurance expertise with Goldman’s access to client capital and private asset origination franchise, we are enhancing our ability to support the evolving needs of our partners and the broader insurance market.”
Vivek Bantwal, Global Co-Head of Private Credit, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, added, “We are excited to invest alongside Talcott and our clients in this solution for the insurance marketplace.
“Our private credit business will bring a rigorous credit selection process, access to a deep sourcing and origination funnel through our investment bank, and our expertise in markets and risk management to this partnership.”
Talcott was given legal advise by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Kennedys Law LLP, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
While, Goldman Sachs was advised by Goldman Sachs Global Banking and Markets as financial advisor and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and Appleby (Bermuda) Limited acted as legal advisors.
