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Sun Life and Wilton Re to create Windsor Life Re reinsurer
The new reinsurer is capitalized at about $900 million and is expected to launch in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approvals.
Sun Life Financial and Wilton Re have agreed to form Windsor Life Re, a new reinsurer domiciled in both the United States and Bermuda, with the goal of supporting purchases of in-force life and annuity blocks at scale, the firms said in a definitive agreement. The planned structure centers on Wilton Re establishing and managing Windsor Life Re, while SLC Management, Sun Life’s global institutional alternatives asset manager, will serve as lead investment manager. Windsor Life Re will be capitalized at approximately $900 million, with Sun Life and Wilton Re each contributing about one-third of the equity, and the remaining third coming from an undisclosed third-party source. Windsor Life Re is set to initially reinsure an in-force block of approximately $1.7 billion from Wilton Re, with future business expected to be ceded on a quota share basis. At scale, the reinsurer is expected to hold about $10 billion in assets.
Insurance Business also pointed to market demand for liability transfer structures, citing elevated supply of acquirable blocks alongside increased capital efficiency needs. It noted that US retail annuity sales reached $464.1 billion in 2025, the fourth consecutive record year, and that the US life and annuity reinsurance leverage ratio rose to 328% at the end of 2024, up from about 200% a decade earlier, according to AM Best.
Additional deal details included advisors and the timeline: Jefferies and Sidley Austin advised Sun Life, while Ardea Partners and Wells Fargo advised Wilton Re, with Debevoise & Plimpton providing legal advice. The partnership is expected to launch in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.