Ariel Re’s Pedraja targets property growth after $270mn capital raise

Ariel Re will target property expansion following its recent $270mn capital raise, with 70 percent of the new funding set to be deployed in the class, according to the company’s group CFO Mike Pedraja.

Speaking to The Insurer TV at this week’s Bermuda Risk Summit, Pedraja said the reinsurer would also be deploying capital in four other lines of business – US professional lines, cyber, marine and specialty and renewable energy – as it looks to grow in 2023.

Pedraja said this focus on five core lines of business meant there was “no diversification for diversification’s sake”.

“Within those five lines, all have good tailwinds – we see good opportunities in each of them,” he said.

The carrier’s $270mn capital raise, announced on Monday, was notable in that $170mn of the total was raised through Lloyd’s pioneering London Bridge 2 PCC transformer vehicle.

Pedraja said the five new institutional and family office investors that supported the raise were all new to Lloyd’s.

“I think they walked away convinced and satisfied that the amount of positive attributes that Lloyd's provides is really quite overwhelming,” he said.

Pedraja also paid tribute to the contribution made by Jim Stanard since his Pelican Ventures vehicle acquired the group, alongside JC Flowers, in 2020.

“We have been reinvigorated with Jim Stanard, and his historical experience and track record as the founder of RenaissanceRe and TigerRisk,” he said.

“Jim is not just a passive owner, he is very much engaged in the business. He has personally invested in the business. And so he's spending a lot of time and effort in helping reinvigorate and tweak this historical franchise that has performed so well, to elevated performance to the highest levels.”

The Insurer TV talks to Ariel Re’s Mike Pedraja

Watch the 10-minute interview with Mike Pedraja, which was recorded shortly after the Bermuda-Lloyd’s carrier announced it had secured $270mn of capital to support growth opportunities in 2023, with $170mn raised through Lloyd’s London Bridge 2 PCC transformer vehicle.

Pedraja discusses: