Defense Re adds worldwide binder as it nears $20 million premium volume threshold

The company in February announced that it had secured capacity support that would allow the D&O and management liability-focused operation to begin underwriting business in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Australia and North America. Through the new worldwide binder, Defense Re can offer limits of up to $3 million for financial and commercial lines risks. That binder adds to its existing offerings, which include one partnership that enables affiliate Defense Puerto Rico to underwrite business in its native Puerto Rico, and another to assume risks based in the Latin America region. In Puerto Rico, Defense Puerto Rico’s binder enables it to offer up to $10 million of limit, while the Latin America binder gives it the ability to offer capacity of $6 million. Collectively, DIC Group believes it will write between $17 million and $18 million of premium across the three offerings in 2026, split $5 million in Puerto Rico, $9 million in Latin America and a further $3 million to $4 million around the rest of the world. Talking to The Insurer, Defense Re founder and president Charles Juarbe made clear that the MGA’s growth will not come at the cost of profitability. “We are not top line driven, we are results driven,” he said. “We have a very robust distribution pipeline and close relationships with a lot of people.” Alongside broadening its underwriting remit, Defense Re is also making moves into new segments in its existing markets and broadening its distribution capabilities. As Juarbe explained, Defense Re has recently partnered with technology company Sytrex and, through that tie-up, the business will soon launch an artificial intelligence-driven project in Puerto Rico, through which the plan is to offer its D&O product. “We will be the first company in Puerto Rico to provide a streamlined, AI-supported D&O offering,” explained Juarbe. Other projects in the works include the formation of a captive which would mean that Defense Re could share in some of the underwriting risk the MGA assumes and “have some skin in the game”. “We have this really big vision for the future,” said Juarbe. “We may only be eight or nine people, but we are extremely efficient.” Puerto Rico-based Defense Re launched in 2021 with the MGA initially focused on writing a book of financial lines commercial reinsurance coverages in Latin America and the Caribbean on the capacity of AM Best A-rated Patria Re.