Goldman Sachs and Talcott Financial Group raise $1B for Bermuda reinsurance vehicle

Goldman Sachs and Talcott Financial Group have launched West Grove Re, a Bermuda-based reinsurance sidecar vehicle that has pulled in roughly $1 billion in capital commitments. The vehicle will take on a share of premiums and losses from Talcott’s US annuities book, with Goldman Sachs Asset Management running the private-asset investment strategies underneath it. Why this deal matters beyond insurance West Grove Re also lands just days after Talcott announced a separate $6.3 billion reinsurance transaction with Lincoln Financial on July 30. That deal involved Talcott assuming a massive block of Lincoln’s annuity liabilities, a move that signals Talcott is aggressively scaling its reinsurance capabilities. The $1 billion sidecar with Goldman effectively gives Talcott a fresh pool of third-party capital to support that expansion without loading up its own balance sheet. The Goldman-Talcott connection runs deep Talcott Financial Group traces its lineage back to Global Atlantic Financial Group, which itself originated from Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s role here is telling. The firm isn’t just lending its name. It’s managing the actual investment portfolio that backs ...