US pension funds playing bigger role in reinsurance

New York

BILLIONS of dollars from pension funds and other non-traditional players have been moving into the reinsurance business in recent years, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Treasury Department.

The report did not identify individual pension funds or other providers of what it called "alternative capital" for reinsurance. But it found that such newcomers had put about US$59 billion into the US$570 billion global reinsurance market as at June 30. That was more than three times their stake in 2007.