Zurich/Sydney, 20 February 2026 – Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, the commercial insurance arm of the Swiss Re Group, has agreed to acquire the Global Trade Credit and Surety business of QBE Insurance Group (QBE), subject to regulatory approvals.

Upon successful completion, the acquisition will strengthen Swiss Re Corporate Solutions' primary credit and surety insurance offering and expand its capabilities to address the risk management needs of corporate clients. The transaction supports Swiss Re Corporate Solutions' strategic ambition to diversify its portfolio and capture new growth opportunities.

QBE's Global Trade Credit and Surety business operates through a highly experienced team with a strong presence in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The portfolio is expected to generate annual revenues of approximately USD 200 million.

This specialty insurance line plays a critical role in helping companies manage payment and performance risk arising from their accounts receivable. Globally, this segment of the insurance market generates around USD 19 billion in premium annually, with continued growth potential driven by heightened economic uncertainty, more complex supply chains and rising demand for sophisticated risk transfer solutions.

Ivan Gonzalez, CEO of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, said: "This acquisition marks an important milestone for Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. It allows us to expand our offering in this attractive segment by strengthening our global credit and surety platform with a well-managed, profitable portfolio and a highly experienced team. We are excited to build on QBE's market-leading capabilities as we continue to differentiate our offering to help corporate clients navigate the evolving risk landscape."

The transaction is subject to various closing conditions including regulatory approvals, which are likely to take several months. During this phase, Swiss Re Corporate Solutions looks forward to working closely with QBE to ensure continuity for policyholders, brokers, and the team members, who are a key part of this transaction. No financial details of the transaction are being disclosed.

LA JOLLA, Calif. - Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLMR) has completed its acquisition of The Gray Casualty & Surety Company (Gray Surety), the specialty insurer announced Monday in a press release.

The transaction, which was finalized on January 31, comes alongside the closing of new unsecured financing totaling $450 million. The financing package, completed on January 27, consists of a $150 million revolving facility and a $300 million term loan.

The banking consortium for the financing was led by U.S. Bank National Association and KeyBank National Association as joint lead arrangers and book runners. Other participating financial institutions included Citizens Bank, The Huntington National Bank, PNC Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, and JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Mac Armstrong, Palomar’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated that the acquisition "meaningfully strengthens Palomar’s surety franchise" by adding "scale and geographic reach" to the company’s existing operations.

The acquisition aligns with Palomar’s strategic growth framework. Gray Surety is described as a national surety carrier that will be integrated into Palomar’s existing insurance operations.

Palomar Holdings operates through several subsidiaries including Palomar Specialty Insurance Company, Palomar Specialty Reinsurance Company Bermuda Ltd., and now Gray Surety. The company provides specialty insurance across five product categories: Earthquake, Inland Marine and Other Property, Casualty, Fronting, and Crop.

According to the announcement, Palomar’s insurance subsidiaries maintain an A (Excellent) financial strength rating from A.M. Best.

Further details about the acquisition and financing are available in the company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

GreenieRE Coalition, a reinsurer focused on insurance innovation for the energy transition, and Trellis Climate, an impact-first, catalytic capital program investing in early climate infrastructure projects, have launched Vensurety, an impact-first, tech-expert insurance platform for climate companies.

Vensurety, short for “Venture Surety,” is supported by anchor funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation and Builders Vision.

It underwrites a new category of surety bonds, and aims to ensure climate tech startups have enough liquidity to support growth and commercialisation in order to build early demonstrations and projects.

The product combines concepts from green bonds, insurance-linked securities, and blended finance into a scalable financial instrument designed to accelerate clean energy infrastructure, explained the duo.

Vensurety aims to address the critical market gap created by the lack of accessibility to traditional surety by piloting a new category of surety bonds tailored for climate tech startups.

Backed by risk-tolerant, philanthropic capital, the bonds free up liquidity, reduce insurance costs, and provide a risk knowledge base to attract commercial insurers over time.

Schmidt Family Foundation and Builders Vision provided the capital for the launch. Vensurety will issue catalytic sureties that enable high-impact climate companies building early-stage infrastructure and products to get off the ground.

Essentially, the sureties act like a letter of credit, enabling the companies to meet contractual obligations without tying up large amounts of capital in collateral, explained the duo.

Jeff McAulay, Chief Executive Officer, GreenieRE Coalition, commented, “We are proud to work with such visionary organisations to develop novel solutions that help de-risk the energy transition. We’re excited to announce our first deals in the coming weeks and months. This is just the beginning of the product innovation and deployment GreenieRE has in our pipeline.”

Lara Pierpoint, Managing Director, Trellis Climate, added, “We’ve long believed in the potential of insurance as an impact vehicle. This initiative aligns with our mission to use catalytic capital to support project financing and the deployment of advanced technologies to decarbonise our planet. We’re proud to support the mission, governance, and impact evaluation of this important pilot.”

Kyle McEneaney, Director, Climate Tech Program, Schmidt Family Foundation, said, “There is a lot of capital available for the energy transition, but many technologies we know we need aren’t getting deployed because of risks that typical market actors can’t price or bear.

“Having examined this problem for several years in collaboration with the GreenieRE and Trellis teams, we think insurance is a promising tool that allows philanthropy to efficiently mitigate the minimum marginal risk layer, preventing these technologies from otherwise getting to scale. We’re thrilled to support this pioneering structure and look forward to others joining this important cause.”

Finally, Amanda Goldberger, Head of Strategy & Planning, Builders Vision, added, “At Builders Vision, we are committed to catalysing markets that accelerate the transition to a more resilient economy. Vensurety takes an insurance model proven in mature sectors like solar and wind and applies it to emerging solutions where risk is less understood. By reducing insurance barriers and strengthening innovators’ financial positions, this effort can help early-stage projects scale and drive broader adoption.”

“The acquisition aligns with Western Surety Company’s monoline surety focus, and solidifies its position as a top surety writer in Canada,” WSC says in a press release last week.

WSC says it’s the only insurance company in Canada to exclusively write surety bonds for the construction industry, as well as a complete line of commercial surety bonds (including licence and permit bonds, lost document bonds, administration and property guardianship bonds, and customs and excise bonds).

In contract surety, WSC had insurance revenue of about $38.85 million in 2024, according to Canadian Underwriter’s 2025 Stats Guide, which uses data from MSA Research. For its part, SGI Canada brought in nearly $4.31 million in contract surety last year, and about $1.06 million in all other surety, the data show.

“This is an exciting day for Western Surety Company,” company president and CEO Greg Salmon says in the release. “With our dedicated surety expertise and industry leading service, we look forward to working with our existing brokers as well as several new brokers to effectively manage their surety needs.”

Over the coming days, current brokers and “the many new brokers we will be welcoming to WSC” will receive further details and communication on what to expect and how to be prepared for the Oct. 1 transition, WSC says. “WSC has invested significant resources over the past several years in improving and optimizing the bond issuance and account management processes, which we are confident will lead to a seamless transition.”

Canadian-family-owned, WSC is licensed to write surety bonds in all Canadian provinces and territories. The company was founded in 1909 and has its corporate head office in Regina. It does not conduct business in the U.S. and is not affiliated in any way with U.S. firms.