Gen Re

Gen Re is the international reinsurance brand operated through the General Re group, whose principal legal entities include General Reinsurance Corporation, General Re Life Corporation, and General Reinsurance AG. The group provides reinsurance to primary insurers rather than selling most policies directly to individual consumers. Its principal areas are property and casualty reinsurance, together with life and health reinsurance. Gen Re is primarily a direct reinsurer, meaning that it generally works directly with cedents instead of relying exclusively on intermediary placement, while also maintaining related intermediary, specialty insurance, and investment-management activities within its broader group. The business traces its U.S. history to 1921, when the General Casualty and Surety Reinsurance Corporation was established. In 1923, American investors acquired the company and renamed it General Reinsurance Corporation. During the following decades, the company expanded its North American branch network, developed specialized facultative capabilities, and entered international markets. It created a professional casualty facultative reinsurance department in 1954 and added property facultative operations in 1956. These developments helped broaden its role beyond treaty reinsurance and gave it expertise in evaluating individual, complex, or unusual risks. General Re Corporation, the holding company for the group’s global reinsurance and related operations, was formed in 1980 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GRN. The group later developed a close relationship with Cologne Re, a German reinsurer whose roots extended to the nineteenth century. In 1994, General Reinsurance Corporation formed an alliance with Cologne Re. Berkshire Hathaway acquired General Re Corporation in 1998, bringing the reinsurer into one of the world’s largest insurance and financial groups. In 2003, General Re and Cologne Re began marketing their businesses under the Gen Re brand. General Reinsurance Corporation completed its purchase of Cologne Re in 2009, and Cologne Re was renamed General Reinsurance AG in 2010. Gen Re serves insurance markets through a worldwide network of more than 40 offices. Its geographic presence includes the United States and Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. The group’s activities have included property, casualty, life, health, specialty, and related insurance and reinsurance services. Associated businesses named in reference material include Gen Re Intermediaries, NEAM, General Star, Genesis, USAU, and Faraday, although the precise scope and ownership of individual operations can vary within the wider General Re group. The brand is positioned around underwriting discipline, claims-paying capacity, technical expertise, and long-term relationships with insurers. Public reference material identifies strong financial-strength ratings for Gen Re’s reinsurance operations, including A++ from A.M. Best, AA+ from S&P’s claims-paying-ability assessment, and Aa1 from Moody’s; ratings can change over time and are not treated here as current unless independently time-stamped. Gen Re’s history also includes a major legal controversy involving sham reinsurance transactions arranged with AIG in 2000 and 2001. Former Gen Re executives were prosecuted, their convictions were later vacated on appeal, and the government matter was resolved in 2012, with related civil litigation resolved through a court-approved settlement in 2013. Despite that episode, Gen Re remains an active Berkshire Hathaway reinsurance business operating across global insurance markets.

Gen Re’s corporate history begins in the United States in 1921 with the formation of the General Casualty and Surety Reinsurance Corporation. The company subsequently took over the U.S. business of the Norwegian Globe Insurance Company of Christiania. American investors acquired the business in 1923 and changed its name to General Reinsurance Corporation. In 1928, General Alliance Corporation was organized as a holding vehicle for General Reinsurance Corporation and other insurance interests. By 1929, General Alliance owned all of General Reinsurance Corporation and held interests connected with the United British Insurance organization. That year, General Reinsurance stated that it would operate solely as a direct reinsurer. The related United British U.S. branch and General Reinsurance were described as operating with common management and writing broad classes of casualty and surety reinsurance, an early example of an organized American casualty-reinsurance group. The company expanded its technical capabilities after the Second World War. In 1945, General Reinsurance merged with Mellon Indemnity Corporation. It established what reference material describes as the first professional casualty facultative reinsurance department in 1954, followed by property facultative operations beginning in 1956. During the 1950s it added North American branch offices, and in the 1960s and 1970s it increased its international reinsurance activity. Further branch expansion and acquisitions supported growth in the United States, Canada, and overseas markets. General Reinsurance moved its headquarters from New York City to Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1974, and then to Stamford, Connecticut, in 1984. In 1980, General Re Corporation was created as the parent holding company and became publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GRN. This structure held General Re’s reinsurance operations and related businesses. A major international development came through the company’s relationship with Cologne Re, formally Kölnische Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft, a German reinsurer founded in 1846. General Reinsurance Corporation formed an alliance with Cologne Re in 1994. Berkshire Hathaway acquired General Re Corporation in 1998, making General Re part of Berkshire Hathaway’s insurance group. The two businesses began marketing under the Gen Re name in 2003. General Reinsurance Corporation completed its acquisition of Cologne Re in 2009, and Cologne Re was renamed General Reinsurance AG in 2010. The Gen Re organization now operates as a global reinsurance group with principal entities covering property and casualty and life and health business. It is primarily a direct reinsurer and is represented in major reinsurance markets through a network of more than 40 offices. The group’s listed locations span North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australasia. Related operations named in reference material include Gen Re Intermediaries, NEAM, General Star, Genesis, USAU, and Faraday. Gen Re’s history also includes the AIG securities-fraud controversy. In 2000 and 2001, Cologne Re Dublin participated in two transactions with AIG that prosecutors later characterized as lacking economic substance and as having been structured to increase AIG’s reported loss reserves. The matter became the subject of investigations, criminal prosecutions, and civil litigation. Several former Gen Re executives were convicted, but the Second Circuit vacated those convictions in 2011 and ordered a new trial. The U.S. government agreed in 2012 not to pursue further action under deferred-prosecution arrangements, and related civil litigation was finally resolved through a court-approved settlement in 2013. Gen Re continues to operate as an active Berkshire Hathaway reinsurance business.

1. 2010Cologne Re renamed General Reinsurance AG

   The acquired Cologne Re business changed its name to General Reinsurance AG.

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2. 2009Cologne Re acquisition completed

   General Reinsurance Corporation completed its purchase of Cologne Re.

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3. 2003Gen Re brand introduced across the businesses

   General Re and Cologne Re began marketing their reinsurance businesses under the Gen Re brand.

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4. 1998Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway

   Berkshire Hathaway acquired General Re Corporation.

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5. 1994Alliance with Cologne Re

   General Reinsurance Corporation formed an alliance with Cologne Re, the German reinsurer later incorporated into the Gen Re organization.

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6. 1984Headquarters moved to Stamford

   The corporate headquarters moved from Greenwich to Stamford, Connecticut.

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7. 1980General Re Corporation formed and listed

   General Re Corporation was formed as the parent holding company and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under GRN.

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8. 1974Headquarters moved to Greenwich

   The company moved its headquarters from New York City to Greenwich, Connecticut.

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9. 1956Property facultative activity added

   General Reinsurance began property facultative reinsurance operations.

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10. 1954Casualty facultative department created

    The company created a professional casualty facultative reinsurance department.

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11. 1945Merger with Mellon Indemnity Corporation

    General Reinsurance merged with Mellon Indemnity Corporation.

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12. 1923Renamed General Reinsurance Corporation

    American investors acquired the company and changed its name to General Reinsurance Corporation.

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13. 1921Original reinsurance company established

    The General Casualty and Surety Reinsurance Corporation was established in the United States, forming the starting point of Gen Re’s documented corporate history.

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A technically oriented, financially strong global reinsurer emphasizing direct relationships with insurers, underwriting expertise, broad geographic reach, and long-term risk-sharing capacity.

• Property reinsuranceProperty and casualty

  Gen Re provides reinsurance capacity for property risks ceded by primary insurers. The business includes treaty arrangements covering portfolios and facultative placements addressing individual or particularly complex risks. Its property activities form part of the group’s broader direct-reinsurance offering across major international markets.

• Casualty reinsuranceProperty and casualty1954

  Casualty reinsurance is a core Gen Re activity, covering liability and other non-property exposures transferred by insurers. The company developed a dedicated professional casualty facultative department in 1954 and has historically written a broad range of casualty and surety reinsurance.

• Life reinsuranceLife and health

  Through its life operations, Gen Re provides reinsurance solutions for life insurers. The offering supports insurers that transfer mortality, longevity, underwriting, or portfolio risks, although the reference material does not specify individual product names or current terms.

• Health reinsuranceLife and health

  Gen Re’s health reinsurance business serves insurers seeking capacity and risk-management support for health-related portfolios. It is marketed alongside life reinsurance as one of the group’s two principal business areas.

• Facultative reinsuranceReinsurance structure1954

  Facultative reinsurance allows an insurer to submit individual risks for separate underwriting rather than transferring an entire portfolio under a treaty. Gen Re established casualty facultative capabilities in 1954 and property facultative operations beginning in 1956.

• 2009Completion of Cologne Re acquisitionM&A

  General Reinsurance Corporation had maintained an alliance with Cologne Re since 1994.

  What changed. General Reinsurance Corporation completed the purchase of Cologne Re.

  Aftermath. The acquired business was renamed General Reinsurance AG in 2010 and became part of the Gen Re organization.

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• 2003Adoption of the Gen Re marketing brandStrategy

  General Re and Cologne Re had developed an alliance and were operating within the same broader international reinsurance relationship.

  What changed. The businesses began marketing their reinsurance operations under the Gen Re name.

  Aftermath. The shared brand provided a common identity for the international reinsurance operations later consolidated through the acquisition of Cologne Re.

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• 2005AIG securities-fraud investigationControversy

  Investigations examined two reinsurance transactions between AIG and Cologne Re Dublin, a General Re subsidiary. Prosecutors alleged that the transactions lacked economic substance and were intended to increase AIG’s reported loss reserves and support market perceptions of its balance sheet.

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1. Gen Re
2. Gen Re corporate website