Insurers using facultative reinsurance to fuel a drive for growth, according to Willis survey

Facultative reinsurance is helping insurers pursue growth opportunities in a rapidly softening market, enabling them to maximize available capacity and expand into new geographies while managing an increasingly complex risk landscape. That’s the conclusion of a new Facultative Reinsurance Report 2026 published today by Willis, a WTW business (NASDAQ: WTW).

The report, conducted in partnership with Coleman Parkes Research, received responses from 380 senior decision makers at leading insurance companies across North America, Europe, Middle East, APAC and Latin America.

The findings show that growth and global expansion are among insurers' top priorities as they seek to deploy the large reserves of capital built up during the hard market. In addition, the survey shows that:

• More than half (52%) of insurers identified capital management as a key reason for buying facultative reinsurance, up from 44% in 2024.
• 56% said global expansion was among their greatest opportunities in the next two years (up from 39%), indicating an increase in insurers writing business overseas to drive growth.
• 52% named entering new markets and risk areas among their top strategic objectives over the next two years, up from 45% in our previous survey, while 55% named increasing capacity as a top objective, up from 48%.

The results confirm the trend identified in the 2024 survey that facultative insurance is no longer viewed only as a defensive position to protect against problem risks but also as a flexible tool to support business priorities such as expansion, while also managing risk and volatility.

• 60% of insurers expect to increase their use of facultative reinsurance over the next two years, compared with just 13% who plan to buy less, highlighting its growing importance across the market cycle.
• 82% saw facultative as a key part of their strategies for managing risk, capacity, capital and appetite, while only 22% said they used facultative as a last resort, down from 28% in the 2024 survey.

The report also highlights growing concern around emerging risks, including geopolitical tensions, cyber threats and climate-related exposures, which could begin to alter the current market dynamics.

• 57% cited geopolitics among the emerging risks they are most concerned about, up from 52%, while 54% said cyber, up from 24%, and 40% climate, up from 30%.