Editorial Briefing
Premia Holdings has sold Alan Gray LLC and A.G. Risk Management, Inc., its claims, audit and risk management advisory business, to Lewis & Ellis, a Novacap portfolio company. The deal closed on 31 August. Alan Gray was founded in 1988 and acquired by Premia in 2018. Houlihan Lokey advised Premia and its backer, Kelso & Company.

Why It Matters
Alan Gray’s work covers complex claims, litigation support, forensic accounting, and run-off and estate administration: the operational plumbing of the legacy market. For Lewis & Ellis, an actuarial firm, it is the third add-on since Novacap invested in 2023, as it builds out a broader insurance services platform.

JDCC View
In Issue 21 we noted AM Best’s reference to “strategic divestitures” when it affirmed Premia’s A- rating. This is one of them. Premia is concentrating on its core run-off balance sheet, and it is unlikely to be the last legacy group to sell a service arm to consultancies hungry for claims expertise.

Sources: Reinsurance News; Houlihan Lokey; Insurance Business, October 2026

Editorial Briefing
Munich Re has completed its reinsurance of a CA$3.2bn block of Manulife long-term care policies, closing on 1 October with no transfer of assets. Munich Re Life US takes on the full biometric risk on an 80% quota share, full risk-transfer basis, while Manulife continues to administer the policies.

Why It Matters
This is Manulife’s third LTC reinsurance deal in under three years and its first on a standalone LTC block. Together, the deals have cut its LTC morbidity sensitivity by 24%. The cede was priced at negative 5%, meaning Manulife paid above reserve value for Munich Re to take the risk.

JDCC View
A standalone LTC block, with no other business to cushion it, is the purest test of how the market prices morbidity risk. A reinsurer of Munich Re’s standing taking it on, at a price, suggests LTC is shifting from untouchable legacy line to tradeable risk.

Sources: Insurance Business, 5 October 2026. Follow-up to UID 6101 (Issue 17).

Editorial Briefing
Pacific Life Re has completed a structured reinsurance transaction with an unnamed Japanese life insurer, its second such deal in Japan this year. Terms were not disclosed.

Why It Matters
Japanese life insurers are among the most active users of block and structured reinsurance to manage capital. The pace of cessions this year has been brisk enough that Japan’s Financial Services Agency proposed amendments to its supervisory guidelines in April.

JDCC View
Pacific Life Re has become a Gazette regular from Tokyo to Hong Kong. Japan remains the busiest life legacy market in the world, and with the regulator now watching more closely, deal structures may become more conservative, but they are not slowing down.

Sources: InsuranceAsia News, 13 October 2026; AM Best. Related: UIDs 6107, 6114

Editorial Briefing
Joshua Wander, co-founder and former chief executive of 777 Partners, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and securities fraud in a scheme involving more than $500m. He entered his plea before US District Judge J Paul Oetken in New York on 15 October, agreeing to forfeit at least $500m. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Why It Matters
777 Partners’ activities extended into reinsurance through Bermuda-based 777 Re, and the plea comes amid continuing regulatory concerns over the financial condition of insurers controlled by Advantage Capital Holdings (A-Cap).

JDCC View
For cedents and legacy buyers, the lesson is less about one man than about the capital behind a book. Knowing who stands behind a reinsurer, and how its assets are invested, is as much a part of due diligence as reviewing the reserves themselves.

Sources: Bermuda:Re+ILS, 23 October 2026; Artemis; MLex