Fidelis Partnership's first public loan saves about $46 million a year

The Fidelis Partnership (TFP) has priced a $2.04 billion Term Loan B, its first public market financing. The loan replaces a unitranche the group has carried since 2024. The old unitranche paid SOFR plus 5%. The new loan pays SOFR plus 2.75%. That is 225 basis points less. The group has also received its first public credit ratings: Ba3 stable from Moody's, BB- positive from Fitch, B+ positive from S&P.

The interest saving is about $46 million a year. That is cash TFP can direct toward its Lloyd's syndicates and the Pine Walk managing-agent platform, which carry much of the group's capacity. TFP reported $5.4 billion of written premium for 2025, so the saving is not trivial, but it is not the whole story. The bigger change is the instrument itself: a bilateral, negotiated private loan becomes a syndicated credit that prices daily in public markets.

The refinancing ends the unitranche arrangement TFP has used since its 2024 deal. TFP says it has grown entirely organically since then, to more than 150 lines of business in 140 countries. Richard Brindle, founder and group CEO, calls TFP the world's largest independent MGA. He says the refinancing and the inaugural ratings reflect the confidence of blue-chip debt investors.

The group's capital structure is layered. A 10-year rolling binder with Pelagos Insurance Capital anchors it. Two Lloyd's syndicates support roughly $1.3 billion of premium in 2026. They are syndicate 3123, backed by Names capital, and syndicate 2126, backed by Blackstone. Pine Walk has grown to 18 specialist underwriting cells. Those cells write about $1.2 billion. The refinancing consolidates the holding company's debt under one public instrument while leaving those capital partners in place.

The change in instrument matters as much as the spread. Unitranche private credit exists for fast-growing, unrated borrowers who need a patient lender and pay for that patience. A Term Loan B brings a syndicate of institutional investors, price transparency and a liquid trading market. TFP thanked its private lenders — Blackstone, Barings and Oak Hill — for their support. The public market replaces them at a spread that is 225 basis points lower.

Private lenders will read this deal as a benchmark. In 2024, the unitranche priced TFP at 500 basis points over SOFR. The public market now prices the same borrower at 275 basis points over SOFR. Any private lender underwriting a similarly scaled MGA will have to answer why its spread is 225 basis points wider.

The ratings matter beyond the margin. Ba3, BB- and B+ place TFP among mid-sized financial institutions. The positive outlooks at Fitch and S&P suggest a higher rating down the road. The next debt raise should price off a stronger credit profile, not just a longer track record.

TFP expects the Term Loan B to close in August. That would leave the group with annual interest costs roughly $46 million lighter as it expands into high-growth markets and new product lines. Other large MGAs will watch to see whether the public market's appetite for TFP's paper extends to them. For now, the price of admission is three years of entirely organic growth and a rating the agencies were willing to give.