WTW sees record Bermuda property capacity as Class of 2026 carriers write quota share

Bermuda heads into 2027 with what WTW calls record property insurance capacity of more than $2.8 billion, a supply that includes the carriers it labels the Class of 2026, now writing quota-share, primary and excess layers in the market, as reported by the Royal Gazette on 7 October from WTW's Insurance Marketplace Realities 2027 report.

More important than the headline number is the mix of that capacity, because WTW says property rate reductions in Bermuda look to be slowing, with insurers competing instead through broader coverage, lower attachment points and smaller retentions. Where price has largely been conceded, the contest moves into programme structure, the terms on which risk actually transfers.

Behind the Bermuda picture sit the North American numbers that show how much room buyers have, with WTW putting average rate reductions for large and complex property programmes at 14.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 and 23.4 per cent for shared and layered programmes, a softening the report treats as a support for the property market.

Bermuda is uneven across lines, with WTW describing casualty as having split into two markets: high-hazard and loss-affected risks facing price increases, low-hazard business almost flat. Auto liability, general liability and umbrella and excess liability for high-hazard risks remain under pressure from social inflation and large jury awards, though the report sees early signs that increases in excess casualty could be nearing a peak as more capacity enters through broker-led facilities, new managing general agents and underwriters.

Financial-lines capacity has held up despite consolidation in the industry, and WTW expects two new entrants in professional services and law firm coverage. Jackie Bolig, head of placement and broking solutions for North America at Willis, a WTW business, drew the distinction between the two buyer groups: property buyers have room to negotiate this cycle, she said, while casualty and specialty buyers need to plan for a market still correcting for verdict severity and emerging technology risk.

The report's omissions matter. WTW was asked to identify the carriers it counts in the Class of 2026, to explain how the capacity figure was calculated and to comment on the Bermuda outlook, according to the Gazette's account, but the coverage does not carry a carrier list or a methodology for the capacity number, which means the total arrives without its workings attached.

For ILS and collateralized capital, the detail worth reading twice is quota share. An excess-layer reinsurer is paid for distance from the loss; a quota-share participant takes a proportional slice of the book from the first dollar, which likely places the new carriers nearer the frequency end of the risk than the established Bermuda cat writer. Whether that appetite is still there after a heavy loss year is a different question from whether it is there now.

The number that will matter at the next renewal is not the $2.8 billion headline but where the new capacity attaches. The falling attachment points WTW describes are precisely where record supply and softer terms meet, and where this cohort will find out what it has underwritten.